


The Moment

by TheDoctorAndRiversArmyOfPeppers



Category: Dark Eyes (Big Finish Audio), Doctor Who, Doom Coalition (Big Finish Audio), Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio), The Diary of River Song (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Contains Spoilers!, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-10-07 08:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10356339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorAndRiversArmyOfPeppers/pseuds/TheDoctorAndRiversArmyOfPeppers
Summary: River was angry. The truth of what happened to those poor, unsuspecting people was too horrible to contemplate. It made her blood run cold. She promised herself she would end it. Once she got the chance, she would rain hell on Davros and the Daleks, and end their mutations factory forever.





	1. Saved

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! :)
> 
> This is my first proper attempt at plot, and I think it may be my last (writing this has been HELL). I have found writing this very difficult (or hell) so I apologize if any of it comes across as weak.
> 
> River is from after Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead, and it's after Doctor Who series ten for Twelve. Four and his Romana are from somewhere between Destiny of the Daleks and Shada, and Eleven is from between Rain Gods and the Time of the Doctor.
> 
> For the characters from Gallifrey, it's after Gallifrey series 6, but before Enemy Lines and (for the most part) Dark Eyes 3.
> 
> SPOILER WARNINGS: this fic contains major spoilers for Gallifrey series 1 - 8 and Dark Eyes 1 - 3. And minor spoilers/teasers for the Diary of River Song 1 & 2, and Doom Coalition.
> 
> The Doctors are in very little of the story, and don't meet each other. Sorry.

The Fourth Doctor and Romana were wandering through a crashed escape shuttle. It was dark and cold and seemed devoid of life. It was a mess. Wires were dangling from the ceiling and some of the door controls were jammed, but it was just about spacetight. Which was unfortunate because the Doctor and Romana recognised the design of the shuttle far too well.

It was a Dalek ship.

The Doctor fiddled with the controls on the sleeve of his spacesuit to check the air for poisonous gasses. When he read that the oxygen was clean, he removed his helmet and gestured for Romana to do the same. She ignored him, preferring to keep her suit fully sealed.

The shuttle appeared to be abandoned, which was strange. They hadn't even come across any _broken_ Daleks, never mind ones that were still alive. Romana was about to say that they were wasting their time and suggest they head back to the TARDIS when they found something.

Or should that be some _one_.

Davros was on the floor in the control room of his shuttle, apparently alone. He had somehow been separated from his chair, which was lying on it's side a few feet from him.

The Doctor approached Davros cautiously, while Romana stayed somewhere behind him, keeping to the shadows.

"The last time I saw you, you were being arrested and taken to stand trial. They had you frozen in a solid block of ice. So, how did you end up here?" the Doctor asked, avoiding looking directly at Davros, but keeping an eye on him through his reflection in the shiny control panel.

"Ahh, Doctor. Back with your old face, I see," Davros coughed weakly. "I need your assistance to get into my chair."

"You must be mad if you think we're going to help _you,"_ said Romana, stepping out into the light.

"If you do not, you will regret it. There is someone at my mercy," Davros squirmed and stretched, just managing to reach some of the controls.

He operated a couple of switches and the screen on the far wall flickered on. The image of a woman in a Dalek mind analysis machine appeared on it. She was screaming and trying desperately to get free from her bonds.

The Doctor turned to look at Davros, utterly appalled.

"What is this!? What are you doing to her!?" the Doctor demanded to know.

"This is live footage beamed directly from Skaro. The woman you see being tortured is very important to you, I believe," Davros winced in pain.

The confused Doctor turned back to the horrific images on the screen to see if he could identify the woman.

She was probably beautiful, but it was hard to tell with her face contorted in agony. And she had lovely, blonde curls that swayed and bounced as her head tossed about from the pain. He was sure he'd remember if he'd met someone like her.

"Never seen her before in my lives," the Doctor frowned.

 

 

Many, _many_ years later...

"Are you sure about this, Madam President?" Narvin asked Romana as they made their way to the Panopticon.

"You know I am, Narvin, or else I wouldn't be doing it," she replied.

"We can't ask an alien for assistance! This is the CIAs' division! I must insist..."

"Yes, but as you pointed out earlier, your agents loyalty is currently in question. And anyway, while Professor Song's DNA isn't entirely like ours, it's close enough, don't you agree?"

"Even so, Madam..."

"I think you've known me long enough to know that when I've made up my mind, it's final."

"Well, yes..."

"There we are, then. It's settled. Arrange it for me. Oh, and find Leela. I need her there."

"Yes, Madam President," Narvin walked back the way he'd come.

 

 

River Song had lived a life in the Data Core of the Library for two and a half months now. On the outside, she'd been told, it'd only been a couple of hours.

River was surprisingly amused by her death, but she still wanted to get back out into the real world. She still got bored. CAL had given her two children (and herself) to look after, but that only reminded her of a few of the things she was missing.

Then there was the light.

It was very bright, like the light that had occurred when she allowed CAL access to her memory space. She hoped that meant the Doctor had found a way to properly save her at last, but knew it was unlikely.

The light totally engulfed her.

 

 

Narvin and Leela rushed into the Panopticon. Romana was sitting on an ornate throne on the raised platform, waiting for them.

"She's coming!" Narvin informed his President. "We've got her!"

The very second Leela and Narvin reached Romana, a column of light shone between the ceiling and the floor below. The light receded to reveal Professor River Song standing there.

River looked at her surroundings for a moment as if she new where she was but couldn't believe her eyes.

"Hello, Professor," Romana smiled.

"Hello, Madam President Romanadvoratrelundar, Leela. Good to see you both again," River replied before turning to Narvin. "And you are...?"

"I am Narvinectralonum, Coordinator of the CIA," he replied.

"Ahh, nice to meet you, Narv," she smiled.

_"Narvin,"_ he corrected.

"Of course," she smiled politely. "May I ask why you brought me here, Narv _in_?"

"We haven't," he said. "You're still in the Data Core of the Library. Here, you are just a projection. But the purpose of this interaction is to ask for your assistance."

"What can I do for you?" River directed her question at Romana.

"It's about a Time Lord known as 'Epsilon'," the President replied.

"And who's that?"

"Epsilon is - or rather was - an agent of Gallifreys' CIA," Narvin informed River regretfully. "He has been engaged in fieldwork until recently. He sent us a message telling us what he's been up to."

"And what has he been up to?"

"He misused one of our TARDISes and made an unscheduled trip into our own future."

"Braxiatel warned us that war was coming," Romana continued. "There have been prophecies for centuries and we've seen evidence of how close it is for ourselves. When Epsilon stole that TARDIS, he went so far ahead that he discovered how that war would end. He didn't like the solution your husband came up with and decided to change it. Epsilon then returned to our time and stole the Moment from the Omega Arsenal."

"What is this Moment? How is time stolen?" Leela asked.

"The Moment is a galaxy eater. One of the most devastating weapons ever built. Epsilon took the Moment far too early and is going to use it to prevent the war, we imagine."

"What do you mean, you 'imagine'?" River asked.

"He hasn't actually told us what he plans to do with it. The President is merely guessing his intentions," Narvin explained.

' _Another insane Time Lord intent on preventing the Time War. Oh goody!'_  River thought sarcastically.

"Epsilon's stolen TARDIS has been detected arriving on Skaro. We think he means to set it off from there," Romana told them.

"That is good!" Leela exclaimed.

"No, Leela. It isn't."

"Why. What is wrong with the destruction of such a dishonorable race?"

"We know about the war and we know how it ends. It is a fixed point in time. It can't be changed."

"Epson believes it can!"

"Epsilon," Narvin corrected.

"That is what I said," Leela countered.

"Anyway," Romana changed the subject back to their problem. "It wouldn't destroy just Skaro, but the whole galaxy it's in as well. There are loads of inhabited planets in danger if Epsilon sets the Moment off from there."

"Why would this Epsilon want to kill all those people? You say he wants to save lives. I would have thought him a good man. It does not make sense."

"He's a Time Lord of 'the Old School', Leela. And you know what that means."

"He doesn't think of aliens as equals to his own species."

"Quite. And he's run out of regeneration energy. He's an old man under a lot of stress. He thinks he can save all those Gallifreyan lives, stop all that death, and it's driven him insane. And it's probably pointless, anyway. That planet has been abandoned so it's doubtful he'll destroy any Daleks. There haven't even been any Dalek ships in that sector of space for a few Earth months. As far as we know, he could be putting all those innocent lives in danger for nothing at all."

"So you want me to go and get the Moment back for you before he has a chance to use it?" River asked. "Need I remind you, you have an army."

"Yes. But the Chancellery Guard are hardly discreet and we don't want the other Temporal Powers to find out about this, do we? And we don't know which CIA agents Epsilon has got at, if any. It's a frightening prospect so I don't want to risk involving them too much, either. And the Doctor wouldn't be too pleased about all this, so that brings us neatly to _you."_

"Fair enough. However, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit insubstantial right now."

"You are now, yes. But soon the Doctor will be along to get you out of the Library Data Core. We know about his plan to save you and it is a good one..."

"He has a plan to save me?!" River interrupted, hope written all over her face and mind suspended in a state of disbelief.

"Yes," Romana confirmed cautiously. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

"I didn't," River giggled light headedly, news still not having sunk in.

"Well, now you do. I imagine the Doctor meant it as a surprise."

River nodded, distant.

"I'm sorry I spoilt it, River," Romana apologised sincerely. "Now, back to our problem. Your vortex manipulator is still on the Doctor's TARDIS. We have remotely programmed it with coordinates to bring you straight here when activated. Will you help us?"

"Do I get a reward?" asked River, recovering from her shock.

"That depends on what you want," Romana hedged.

"The Doctor has a new regeneration cycle. He _is_ glad he has it, but he thinks he might live too long now. I could tell on Darillium that he really wasn't looking forward to losing me. And, since I've died, I've been occasionally watching him as a data ghost. I know he's become reckless to a stupid degree and I've been worried about him ending up dead because of it. Even if he gets me out of the Library, I only have this life left. He will lose me anyway and I can't let him go through all this again. So, if it's not too much trouble..."

"You want a new regeneration cycle, too?"

"Only enough regeneration energy to live as long as him," River looked hopefully up at the President, hands shifting nervously by her sides.

"Okay then. I believe we can sort that out," Romana smiled at the relieved look on the archaeologists face.

"But, Madam President! I must protest..." Narvin began but was cut off by Romana.

"Must you? May I remind you Narvin, this woman is possibly about to risk her life for us. She is an old and trusted friend of mine..."

"And mine," Leela chipped in.

"And Leela's," Romana continued. "And, she has saved not only the Doctor's life in the past, but Leela's and my own as well. We owe her a lot as it stands, even more if she agrees to help us now. A new regeneration cycle is the least we can do. And we owe the Doctor some happiness too. Given what we're going to stop Epsilon changing, I think we should do all that we can."

"Yes, Madam President," Narvin conceded begrudgingly.

"Will you help us?" Romana asked again.

"Always," River smiled.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Then they heard a sudden dinging noise that seemed to come from nowhere.

"What was that?" Leela asked, hand moving instinctively to her knife's sheath.

"That means time's up," Romana told them. "The Doctor's come for River."

"He often does," River smirked sinfully.

"We'll see you soon, then," Romana ignored River's comment.

"Very soon," River's smirk transformed into a radiant smile.

"And one more thing. Don't tell the Doctor, he'll only get upset."

River nodded in understanding as she vanished from the room in a blindingly bright light.

And Romana, Leela and Narvin were left staring at the place where she had once been.


	2. Summons

River was worn out. She'd had a very busy day.

It was strange, being amongst the living again, feeling air in your lungs and your hearts beating. And being able to smell your husband's aftershave when you hadn't smelt anything real in a very long time. _Oh,_ how she'd missed life.

River drifted off to sleep in her husband's arms. The Doctor stayed awake, watching her. He delighted in the way her nose crinkled and her brow furrowed as she dreamt, and thought on how lucky he was. Not many husbands got their beloved wives back from the dead, and by the Gods was he aware of that.

So that night, with her in his arms, he swore he'd never let death claim her again.

 

 

Narvin prepared to leave the CIA tower. He bundled up the files he had found and placed them in a box to take to the President. He left his office and headed for the exit, but before he could leave, he heard an urgent sounding beep.

"What's wrong?" Narvin demanded to be told.

"Erm..." the technician at the nearest desk sounded.

"Well, spit it out, man! I haven't got all day! The President is expecting me!"

The technician fiddled with the controls of his computer terminal frantically.

"There's an unidentified Gallifreyan capsule materializing where and when we think Epsilon is, sir," the technician said when he finally got the computer to do what he wanted it to.

"The Doctor? If Professor Song told him..."

"No, sir. It's not a Type Forty."

"Then who?"

"No TARDISes are missing from the bays, so I suppose it's Lord Braxiatel. Positive identification will take a while, Coordinator."

"I must tell the President of this," Narvin hurried out of the CIA tower.

 

 

The Doctor ran down the small alley followed by River and a mob of angry locals wielding flaming torches and pitchforks.

River covered her husband's retreat with laser bolts from her gun to scare the peasants off. As she hurried along to catch the Doctor up, she glanced down one of the alleys leading off the one she was running down. Standing in the other alley was a Time Lord in full robes. As fast as he appeared, he vanished into thin air.

River had been summoned.

 

 

Romana was busy working when Narvin pushed her doors open with a grater force than was really necessary, and walked briskly into her office. She looked up at him from her screen with a frown on her face as the doors swung back into their closed positions.

"Is there a reason for bursting into my office unannounced? People who come to see me usually knock, Narvin," she said, obviously slightly annoyed.

"There has been a development, Madam President," Narvin told her apologetically.

"Go on," Romana raised an eyebrow.

"An unknown TARDIS has materialized on Skaro. It's not the Doctor's, we've checked."

"Braxiatel?" she asked, trying to not let the worry she felt into her voice.

"We don't know, although that does seem the likeliest option."

The President felt a sinking feeling within her at the Coordinator's words which confused her. She pushed all those thoughts out of her mind and if Narvin noticed there was something wrong, he never said anything.

"Well, keep working on it and inform me of any developments. I want to know the micro span you get a positive identification."

"Yes, Madam President."

"Right, so what did you originally want to see me about? And it had better be good news."

"Far from it, I'm afraid. It's these files," he passed her the box of papers he was holding and Romana looked at it with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I thought your agency didn't use hard copies anymore."

"We don't," Narvin answered. "I discovered these in a secret cupboard in the wall of my office."

"And you hadn't looked in there before? How long have you been Coordinator of the CIA, Narvin?"

"I didn't know it was there. Secret cupboards in the walls of the CIA tower have long been rumoured but no conclusive proof that they exist has ever been discovered before. I must admit I was always a bit of a sceptic myself."

"Then how did you find one?"

"I looked."

"Why?"

"I got bored. The contents of these files are particularly interesting. I thought you ought to know about them."

"What's in the files that's so interesting?"

"Before my promotion to Coordinator, the CIA used the Master to try to prevent the Eminence becoming the dominant life form in the Universe. I should clarify that I had no knowledge of this before I discovered the files less than a span ago. Anyway, the plan went disastrously wrong, and the Master disappeared somewhere with the Eminence gas and two human females. And we still don't know where he went or what happened next."

Narvin watched Romana's expression change from slight amusement into the most perfect picture of shock he'd seen on her face in a long time.

"Thank you, Narvin. I'll read them immediately. If you have nothing more to tell me, you may go," Romana watched Narvin leave then started reading.

 

 

The Doctor and River staggered back onto the TARDIS after their adventure. He set the ship in motion then quickly scurried down a staircase. He seemed intent on fixing one of his daft inventions at his desk under the console. Good. That made everything easier.

River left a sticky note on the scanner screen so the Doctor would eventually know she'd gone, then went off to find her vortex manipulator. She went straight to the bedroom she shared with the Doctor in the hope that that was where he'd kept it. She didn't find it in there, so she moved into the dressing room. After a couple of minutes searching, she found it in her weapons draw.

With a relieved smile, River strapped the device on her wrist and pressed the button.

 

 

Romana, Leela and Narvin returned to the Panopticon to wait for River, who appeared a few minutes later.

"You called," River smiled.

"Yes, River. Nice to see you again in the flesh," Romana greeted. "There has been a... slight change of plan."

"A TARDIS capsule has been detected on Skaro," Narvin broke the news. "It arrived a few spans after Epsilon's. We ran an identification scan and it turned out to be Braxiatel's capsule."

"Oh," River bit her lip.

"You know Braxiatel?" Leela wondered.

"Let's just say the Doctor mentioned him and leave it at that."

Leela frowned in confusion but let the subject slide.

"Of course, this means you have to keep your eye out for him. We don't know if he knows about the Dalek fleet on the way. He probably still believes they've abandoned Skaro like we all had," Romana instructed.

"What Dalek fleet?" River asked with faux accusation in her tone. "You never said anything about there being Daleks."

"There had been regular sightings of Dalek ships in orbit around Skaro up to a few months ago. Since then, the planet has been silent. Until now."

"A Dalek battle fleet has been spotted heading for Skaro. It should arrive twelve spans after you," Narvin informed her regretfully.

"Ahh, so there's a time limit! This just keeps getting better," River beamed.

"And one more thing," Romana interjected. "We weren't going to bother you with this, but it's starting to look like it might be relevant. It has come to our attention that huge amounts of civilians are going missing from the home worlds of the armies the Daleks are fighting with in their wars. Daleks have been seen taking men, women, and children from their homes and forcing them onto spaceships. Nobody knows what is happening to them. Now there are Daleks on the way to Skaro, it has to be considered that the people may be being taken there. It seems too much like a coincidence to not be connected, which means their planning something big. So, if you can discover anything while you're there..."

"Is there anything you _don't_  want me to do?"

"Yes. I don't want you to get yourself killed, if possible. Just learn the Daleks' master plan, prevent Epsilon destroying an entire galaxy and find Braxiatel. Make sure you keep him safe. Your capsule is waiting for you in the TARDIS bays. Leela and Narvin will accompany you."

"We will?" Leela asked. "Good!"

"What do you want me to go for?" Narvin asked.

"I need someone there who knows what the Moment looks like," Romana told him.

"I know what it looks like," River admitted.

"How?" the President looked surprised.

"The Doctor's nightmares."

 _"Oh,"_ Romana looked down sadly for a moment.

"Quite," River gave a sad nod.

Leela looked from Romana to River and was confused by their sad expressions. Then she turned to Narvin and was surprised to find the same emotion displayed on his face. Leela couldn't help feeling left out.

"Then you hardly need me to go..." Narvin started.

"Leela and River will need all the help they can get."

"Yes, but..."

"We're wasting time," River interrupted Narvin.

"Agreed," Romana stood and started walking towards the door. "Follow me."

 

 

Romana led River, Leela and Narvin through the Capitol to one of the TARDIS bays. River smirked when she saw the sign above the bay doors.

"'TARDIS Bay Gamma'," she read aloud. "What a coincidence! This is where Padrac put the Doctor's TARDIS when I was here before."

"When was this?" asked Narvin.

"Oh, that's not for quite a bit yet. Don't worry about it."

Once they were through the bay doors, Romana handed River the key to her capsule. River felt a warm, fuzzy feeling at the thought of having her own TARDIS, even if it was only for a short time. She unlocked the capsule's doors and they all stepped inside.

The TARDIS control room looked a lot like the Doctor's original design, if a little bigger. Beyond the console, there was a chair with straps attached. It looked like an advanced version of a primitive torture device. River noticed it was situated in a time lock and smiled at the simplicity.

"That's where Epsilon goes if we capture him, I take it?" River asked the President.

"Indeed. There are some things you may need in the cupboard set into that wall over there," Romana pointed to the wall on her right.

"Where is... oh, it's behind a roundel, I see," River muttered, mostly to herself.

"Now keep everyone safe, Narvin," Romana told the Coordinator.

"Yes, Madam President," he replied like a sulking teenager.

"Leela, please don't do anything stupid," Romana said as she regarded her friend.

"I never do," Leela muttered, a little annoyed.

"River, get them all back alive," the President told the Professor.

"Cross my hearts," River smiled.

"Good luck to you all and I'll see you when you get back," Romana said before leaving the timeship and heading off to her office.

Once the President had gone, River pulled her TARDISes dematerialization lever for the first time with a grin from ear to ear.

"Here we go, then," she chuckled and her two companions exchanged apprehensive glances.

And so the adventure began.


	3. Skaro

The time rotor stilled so River turned on the scanner screen.

Outside, the landscape was littered with piles of stones and broken bits of concrete. The gravel mounds stretched as far as the eye could see, along with stacks of scrap metal and mangled plastic. Little tufts of unhealthy grass grew in pitiful patches through the infertile soil and the cracks in the concrete. It was as if an entire dead world had been turned into a massive scrap merchant's yard.

"Skaro," Narvin shuddered discreetly.

"What are the piles of stones for?" Leela asked.

"I don't know," River searched the image on the screen for clues. "They certainly didn't used to be there. Let's ask them."

"You're not seriously suggesting we question the Daleks!" Narvin exclaimed shocked.

"Never knowingly be serious. Rule twenty-seven," she smiled.

River then went over to the cupboard and sifted through the stuff Romana had left for them.

"A yo-yo?" she said, not understanding why she was surprised. "You can really tell she's travelled with the Doctor, can't you? That's just the kind of thing he'd put in here. And it's yellow, too. _Ahh,_ guns that work on Daleks. Good, we may need those."

She replaced her own gun for one of the three guns in the cupboard then continued to look through the stuff Romana had left them. There were a few replacement circuits for the TARDIS which River decided she would secretly 'borrow' for the Doctor later. And she pocketed a couple of spare batteries for the gun. She found torches which she didn't bother with and a pair of handcuffs which she smiled at. With a cry of triumph, she found what she was looking for: three tubes of anti-radiation pills.

"Take one of these now, then another one every time the lid beeps," River told Leela as she handed the tubes to her two companions.

River took one of her own pills as Leela and Narvin sorted through the cupboard themselves. When they all had what they thought they'd need, Leela led River and Narvin outside.

 

 

Romana removed the Matrix headset and stared into space for a micro span or two. She was horrified.

Reading Narvin's files, she'd become intrigued by the mention of retro-genitor particles existing within a normal, human woman from the First World War. Romana endeavoured to find out more. With nothing in the files Narvin had given her, she went in search of the information in the Matrix. What she discovered from the mind of one of her predecessors had shocked her to a grater extent than she thought was still possible.

What her own people had tried to do to Molly O'Sullivan was beyond forgivable.

Romana couldn't sit back and do nothing anymore. The Eminence had to be stopped. Their war had gone on long enough.

Romana knew it would be difficult to get the High Council to allow an interference, but she also knew she wouldn't give up trying.

Like it or not, the Time Lords were already involved and they'd have to deal with that themselves. And Romana would do all she could to give the Doctor her assistance now she knew that he needed it.

 

 

The wind bit at them as the three travellers made their way to the ruinous Dalek city.

As they passed an abandoned outhouse, Leela heard movement behind her. It sounded like something was following them. But as soon as she turned to find out what it was, it had gone.

Leela's hand darted to her knife handle and her head turned this way and that, looking for the source of the noise. She still couldn't see anything. That worried her.

"What's wrong?" River asked.

"My senses have been enhanced by the blood of the Vampire. I feel more than an ordinary human does. There is someone following, I know it. I can sense them but I cannot see them," Leela replied.

"Let's act as if we don't know they're there and see what happens. Usually works for _him."_

"Suppose they're hostile," Narvin complained.

"Rubbish! Why are you assuming the worst?" River asked him.

"Because that's what usually happens. And we are on Skaro."

"Where's your optimism?"

"What is optimism?" Leela inquired.

"In this case, it's insanity," Narvin told her.

As they walked around the bend in the path, they noticed a part of the Dalek city come into view that was still habitable.

River suggested that she search it while Leela and Narvin continued down the path. That way they'd cover more ground. Narvin gave her a communicator and made her promise to keep in contact, then he and Leela left River to it.

 

 

River found the entrance to the building under some rubble and scrap. She started clearing it, getting herself covered in concrete dust and sand. The sheets of metal cut at her hands as she pulled it out of the way. There was a broken computer of some description beneath the metal. It was so heavy River could barely move it on her own. So she rummaged through the scrap and found a few metal poles. She laid them out on the ground and just managed to get the computer onto them. Then she gave it one big push and the thing rolled away for a few feet before smashing into the rest of the scrap she'd moved.

Once it was clear, River cleaned the blood off her hands, dusted herself down and tried the door. It was stuck solid. She pulled her sonic screwdriver from her pocket and tried to open the door with that. It took a while to separate the door from it's frame, but once she'd finished she leaned it against a wall.

She peered inside the building but couldn't see much, so put her screwdriver on torch setting and pointed it into the inky-black shadows of the building.

There was a staircase on the other side of the door which she quickly and quietly descended.

Once at the bottom, she wandered down the corridor she'd found herself in. It seemed to stretch a long way and the walls were painted a dark grey. It was the kind of colour you'd associate with a world that could produce something like the Daleks.

The fourth door she came to had an ancient 'keep out' sign on it so she went inside.

The room beyond the door was inches thick with dust and there were cobwebs all over the place. It was difficult to breathe in the musty air without coughing, so River covered her mouth with her sleeve.

The only light sources came from the corridor and her screwdriver, so she had to squint as she tried to see through the gloom.

On the far left there was what appeared to be bits of a centuries-old skeleton poking out from under various decaying sheets. Other than that and a couple of computer workstations, the room was empty.

River heard something move behind her so she turned to find out what it was.

She saw the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway. He was staying perfectly still and looked as if he were studying her, trying to work out her next move.

"Who's there?" River asked the man.

"Security," the figure replied, stepping from the shadows.

He was a tall man. He had to duck to get through the doorway and into the room. And he had very broad shoulders and a bald head. He was just the sort of man you didn't want to play rugby against. He was dressed more like a poacher or a game keeper than a security guard, which River found confusing. He watched her closely, with an awful, dead-eyed stare.

"Security for what? What's going on here?" River moved her hand to her gun handle, she didn't like the look of him.

"I'm asking the questions," said the guard.

"No you're not. You haven't asked me a single one yet."

"What are you doing here?"

"Catching butterflies," River tried not to smirk and failed.

"Indoors?"

"They're agoraphobic butterflies. Hence catching them, you see? I'm going to put them in a little glass jar and..."

"You haven't even got a net," the guard scratched his chin, causing flakes of skin to fall away and land on his wooly jumper.

"Nets are too big. I'm using my hands. I've got little hands, ask anyone," she lifted up her arms to show him her hands by way of demonstration.

"That's the strangest excuse I've heard in my life."

River thought back on some of the other excuses she had used in the past and smirked again. How little this man knew. She'd come up with far dafter stories than that.

"Your life's not over yet."

"Yes, it is," the security guard sneered.

"What?!" River exclaimed, confused.

Then the security guard lifted up his arm and a Dalek gun stick moved out of his hand.

"Okay," River muttered under her breath as the realised her predicament.

Then the old sheeting that covered the skeleton started to move. Dust shook off the fabric as a huge bulge grew underneath it. Then the sheeting fell away to reveal the skeleton kneeling, Dalek eyestalk sprouting from it's head.


	4. Capture

The skeleton got to it's feet slowly and started walking towards River.

Any fear she felt at the ghastly sight she hid from her features as best she could. She didn't want them thinking she was going to be easy. The fingers of her right hand ghosted over her gun handle.

"You're coming with us," the security guard said.

"Am I now?" River pulled the gun from her belt and shot him in the head, then turned and shot the skeleton before it could kill her.

Once sure they weren't going to do something stupid like come back to life while she was anywhere near, she took her eyes off them and tried turning on the monitor station. The workings must've deteriorated because it wouldn't work. She got down on the floor and took the little inspection hatch off but everything was such a mess she doubted she could fix it in the time available.

So she got up, dusted off her trousers and left the room, stepping over the bodies of the Dalek puppets.

 

 

Leela and Narvin came across another ramshackle, little building. They decided to search it.

"I suppose we should get this door open," Narvin tried tugging at the door once he reached it but it wouldn't budge.

So he had a fiddle with the locking mechanism. He tried to guess the pass code, but the buttons were so stiff they couldn't be pressed. Narvin took the whole panel off and tampered with the wiring. Leela rolled her eyes in exasperation when it was clear he was getting nowhere.

"Stand back. I shall do it," Leela produced her knife and stabbed it in the locking mechanism.

A cloud of sparks flew with a quiet bang as Leela destroyed what was left of the lock. The door juddered as it slid open and Leela led an impressed Narvin inside.

 

 

River had run quite a way when she reached a pair of huge double doors. It was obviously a very important room, so River knew it would be a bit risky to go in there. There were bound to be loads of Daleks or Dalek puppets on the other side of those doors and she wasn't sure she could take them all down. Going in that room would probably be the least sensible thing she could possibly ever do.

River opened the doors and went inside.

And she stared in horror at what she saw.

The room was massive. It was the biggest room she'd ever been in. The ceiling must have been twenty feet above her head and the floor about two-hundred feet down at least. The far wall looked as if it could've been a mile away, the scale of it all was breathtaking.

The room was criss-crossed with metal gantries at every level, like the one she was standing on, and technical machinery lined evey wall on most levels.

And on the very bottom floor of the room were cryochambers full of hundreds of thousands of frozen Daleks.

River was stunned to silence. Although she hated the metal monstrosities, she had to admit that the frozen Dalek army was a beautiful sight.

Then five Dalek puppets walked into the cryochamber through the door River had just used and saw her. The puppets raised their guns and River noticed more puppets running up the metal stairway to assist her captors.

River knew it was no use using the gun, so threw it on the floor. The nearest puppet picked it up and examined it.

"You will come with us," said one of the puppets who'd just run up the stairs. "Fresh material is required."

"You mean you want to turn me into a Dalek?" River asked, eyebrow raised at their ignorance.

"That is the intention, yes," the puppet said.

"But you won't," she allowed the faintest smile to pull at her lips. "You don't know who I am."

"Who are you?"

River stood confidently, her lips curved into a mocking smile.

"I am Professor River Song!" she said proudly.

"Never heard of you," the puppet sneered.

River deflated, even her hair seemed to lose mass. Early days for the Daleks, then. She hated it when she tried to be impressive and it didn't work. She'd just have to use plan B. She didn't like plan B.

"Are you someone important?" asked another puppet and River nodded.

"Oh, I hate using this, but I'm the Doctor's wife."

 

 

"Valyes, there you are," Romana said as the Lord Chancellor entered her office. "You are two micro spans late."

"Sorry, Madam President," Valyes apologised in typical crawler fashion. "My President requires something of me?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Romana gestured for Valyes to sit down. "What do you know of the Eminence?"

"All the information made available to me by my rank, my Lady."

"Good."

"May I be so bold as to ask why you wish to discuss the Eminence?"

"I rather think we're going to have to interfere. Have a quick read of this file," she passed him a copy she'd had made of the files Narvin had given her.

"This is very serious," Valyes decided as he flicked through the pages.

"And there's more," Romana showed Valyes the information she'd discovered in the Matrix on the screen of her data pad.

"My Lady, this is unbelievable," said a shocked Valyes.

"I know. That's why I believe we have to intervene. I, of course, will have to get the High Council's approval. Having seen your reaction, I doubt that will be much trouble. I would, however, still like to make use of you're services."

"Well I... that is to say... I don't... I will have it looked into, Madam President."

"Good. I thought you'd say that," Romana smiled a sly smile and settled back in her chair. "Look into it yourself. This needs top level security until I am ready to put it before the High Council."

"But, my Lady!"

"I want your best person for the job, Valyes. Since you hold such a senior position, I would've hoped that would've been you. I am yet to be convinced of that. So, unless you can think of a subordinate of yours who is more competent than you, I suggest you get started," she handed him back the files. "Off you go."

Valyes got up and left Romana's office, a little under the weather.

 

 

Leela and Narvin wandered along many long and twisty corridors. They had been walking for a good fifteen minuets when Leela stopped Narvin with a strong but gentle hand on his arm.

"You are lost," she said when he turned to face her with a questioning expression.

"I am not!" he argued.

"You are! The corridors have numbers and letters painted on them," she explained, pointing to where the symbols were on the wall. "We have already been down here twice."

"Well, I've never been here before, have I?" he said a little too harshly and mentally cursed himself. "Sorry, Leela."

"It is alright," Leela smiled. "Come this way."

Leela led Narvin down a different corridor and, after several minuets walking, they came to a huge room containing thousands and thousands of frozen Daleks.

A shiver shot through Leela's spine as she took in the beautiful-but-deadly view.

Narvin's jaw dropped as he edged nearer to the railings, sweaty hands grasping the metal beam tightly. He could feel his hearts pounding in his chest from fear.

Leela's hand never left her knife handle. It's presence in its sheath at her waist was comforting to her, even though there wasn't a hope of it working on Daleks.

"I think we may have bitten off slightly more than we can chew," Narvin whispered morosely, breath frosting in the cold air.

Leela turned her head to him to reply, but stopped when she spotted River a few yards behind her companion. She was on the other gantry, they just had to get to her. Leela drew Narvin's attention to the archaeologist and tugged him towards her.

They used every available cover to reach their friend, but were too late. They saw the Dalek puppets surrounding River take her away, but she didn't seem to be putting up a fight.

That only added to their mounting sense of dread.

 

 

They'd searched her for more weapons, of course. They'd found the knife in her boot and taken it away, which annoyed her greatly. They let her keep her sonic, thankfully. River had managed to convince the puppets it was a torch.

River went quietly as they led her off. She wanted to meet the Supreme Dalek, or whatever it was that was in charge.

The first door River and the Dalek puppets came to slid open and River was pushed inside.

She instantly recognised the creature before her.

"You?! What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Where else would I be, Professor Song?" Davros smiled. "Where else but with my children?"


	5. Bolt-hole

Leela and Narvin watched River being taken away by twelve Dalek puppets from their hiding place behind the buttress. Leela had met River on a few of her adventures with the Doctor and liked her considerably. In fact, she considered River to be a good friend, so she was quite worried about her.

"How do we get her out of there?" whispered Leela.

"We don't," Narvin replied.

"What?" the savage was appalled.

"She is Professor River Song, she can look after herself. Her record is, to say the least, impressive. Epsilon is why we're here, in case you'd forgotten. He is our priority. We just let River distract the Daleks while we find Epsilon."

"We cannot leave River to be put to the torture!"

"She will be alright. You know she will. Now lets go," Narvin led the reluctant Leela back the way they'd come.

 

 

"You recognise me, then?" River asked, surprised. "The puppets didn't."

"Dalek puppets have limited access to information in the path web," Davros explained.

"Ahh, I see," River muttered. "You've let the planet go a little bit though, haven't you? It's quite a mess out there. Why has Skaro become a giant gravel pit?"

"Our city was destroyed by the Thals in the war," Davros frowned, confused as to why she'd asked. "The wreckage had to be cleared before we could excavate the cryochamber inside it. We left all the dirt, concrete and metal on the surface of the planet, where it was out of our way."

River nodded her understanding.

"Anyway, why _are_ you back on Skaro? Why here? I thought you'd abandoned this planet decades ago," she wondered.

"Convenience. Why should we go anywhere else? Our armies can be easily built up from here and it is fitting, don't you think?" Davros replied.

"So, the wars aren't going too well, then?"

"They are going perfectly."

"And yet you need this many more Daleks? No, I think all those wars at once are a bit much, even for you. Your armies are being decimated out there."

"As we decimate theirs."

"Your losses are still crippling enough, though. You might just lose some of those wars, and you know that. Although, the near constant house calls my husband is making at this point in your time stream can't really be helping, can they?"

"No. They don't help at all. But he will soon be crushed."

"No he won't. And certainly not by you. So, plans?"

"What about them?"

"Tell me what they are."

"No," Davros was surprised by the blatancy of the question.

"Oh well, it was worth a try. What organic matter are you using to make the Daleks themselves? Because you can't... _Oh,"_ her hearts sank as the penny dropped. "The missing people. What happens? Does a Dalek ship descend upon an enemy town, kidnap the locals, then bring them back here for you to mutate? Those solders you are fighting against, they don't know they could be destroying what is left of their own families, do they?! They don't know they are killing their own partners, their parents, their siblings, their _children!_ Will _you_ tell them or will _I_?"

River was angry. The truth of what had happened to those poor, unsuspecting people was too horrible to contemplate. It made her blood run cold. She promised herself that she would end it. Once she got the chance, she would rain hell on Davros and the Daleks and end their mutations factory forever.

"You are very... quick," Davros said, alarmed by the level of anger displayed on River's face.

River took in a breath to calm herself down. If she let emotion inhibit her thinking, she would be no use to anyone. And if she didn't survive long enough to get away from Skaro, chances were she wouldn't be able to keep the promise she'd just made.

First things first, she had to complete the mission Romana had sent her there for. She had to find Braxiatel and Epsilon. She could blow things up later.

"Thank you. Have you heard of a Time Lord called Epsilon?" she asked, wondering if the fool had got himself captured before he could use the Moment.

"I'm asking the questions now."

"No, that was definitely me."

"What are you doing on Skaro?" Davros asked.

River didn't answer, she just stared at him smugly.

"Who else are you with? The Doctor?! Where is he?" he continued. "Who is this 'Epsilon' you were asking about and why is he important? Is _he_ here?"

She didn't speak or change her expression and Davros got increasingly frustrated.

"What are _your_ plans?" Davros' fingers began tapping on his control panel.

River crossed her legs at this point and raised an eyebrow. Davros stared at her for a few moments. River could see the cogs whirring in his head.

"So, what are you going to do with me?" she asked casually.

"You're going to be the bait in our trap."

"Hardly original."

"It does not have to be. No matter how much the Doctor suspects a trap, he will still come running to save you."

 

 

Leela and Narvin made it outside safely. Thankfully the enemy didn't know they were there yet, they still had the element of surprise.

Leela looked at the various buildings as they walked, thinking about where Epsilon would've hidden himself. Narvin kept an eye out for Daleks.

"I would conceal myself just outside the Dalek city," she decided. "Somewhere that has good cover where I can spy on my enemies, but far enough away so they don't know I am there."

Narvin scanned his memory to remember if he'd seen any buildings or any sort of cover that matched Leela's criteria.

"On our way to the city, do you remember that little, shack-like outhouse?" he asked.

"Vaguely."

"What would you say to the possibility of him hiding there?"

"It is this way," Leela led Narvin through the streets of the city carefully.

 

 

River was escorted by two Dalek puppets to a cell beneath Davros' office. She was pushed inside rather forcefully and stumbled briefly before regaining her balance.

"I had hoped I'd seen the last of prison cells," River muttered under her breath.

The door was slammed shut, locked and magnetized.

 

 

Once they reached the outhouse, Leela and Narvin hid behind a half-collapsed wall and watched for any movement. While they waited, they planned what to do next.

They didn't have to wait long for the outhouse door to squeak open.

 

 

River began pacing her cell, looking to see if there was any way out. All she had was a bunk bed on wheels, a few horrid looking sheets, a table, a chair, and a marker pen.

River examined the ventilation shaft. It was about her size and wasn't lit, so she put her sonic on torch setting and pointed it into the inky blackness. She discovered a dozen systems a few feet apart from each other which allowed the Daleks to trap her and suck the air out from within the vents themselves. Climbing through them would be risky. She would have to be quick.

After stealing the marker pen, River took off the ventilation shaft's grill and climbed inside.

River had crawled a mere seven feet when the shutters fell down and the air was removed.


	6. Aggression

Leela sneaked along the wall until she reached the end of it, and was behind the Time Lord who'd left the outhouse. Narvin stayed where he was and watched the man walk towards him.

Narvin recognised the Time Lord instantly. He nodded at Leela to silently confirm the other man's identity. Leela nodded back to show her understanding and unsheathed her knife.

"Epsilon, give us back the Moment and we will be lenient," Narvin said, stepping from behind the wall.

The Coordinator's mouth twitched into a quick smile as he saw Leela dart out from hiding and get inside the outhouse without being spotted by the rogue Time Lord.

His relief was short lived, however. Epsilon was approaching and Narvin had a feeling the renegade wasn't going to give up without a fight. He suddenly wished he and Leela were in each others shoes, she was always better at unarmed combat than him.

Oh, well. Needs must.

 

 

River took in grate lungfuls of air. The last air she could before her little section of ventilation shaft's air supply had been completely sucked away.

Her respiratory bypass kicked in as she altered the setting on her sonic screwdriver to reverse one of the poles of the shutters magnetic lock. Her Gallifreyan-like biology bought her a few extra minutes, since she'd been getting some practice in after that rather embarrassing experience aboard the Party Ship. That was a long time ago now.

Just when River thought she might actually die of something as undignified as oxigen starvation (and began wondering if she should've told the Doctor about all this) the shutters slid open.

She drank in the lovely air hungrily and scrambled forwards as fast as she could, hoping the Daleks and Davros wouldn't notice she'd escaped before she was safe.

Luckily, her cell was near the end of that corridor, so she didn't have to go far before the shutter systems stopped appearing.

She reached a grill that opened onto a corridor. The Dalek city was full of corridors like that, but she was sure she recognised the identification code on the wall. It must be one of the corridors she'd run down earlier.

River removed the grill and hurried to get her gun and knife back.

 

 

Epsilon picked up a stray bit of concrete and smashed it down on Narvin's head. The Coordinator's helmet protected him from serious harm, but his vision went fuzzy for a few moments. He blinked his sight clear and soon had Epsilon restrained in a half-Nelson.

 

 

The outhouse wasn't bigger than a medium sized public convenience, and smelt something of the same. It must have been abandoned since the Kaleds were destroyed by the Thals' rocket.

Most of the few windows were boarded up so very little light got into the building. The dust was inches thick and even the spiderwebs were deserted. The light hanging from the ceiling was broken and the doors to the cupboards which lined the far wall of the room were falling off their hinges. Leela found it hard to breathe the dead, stale air.

There was a piece of cloth covering a cuboid object on the floor in the middle of the room. It caught Leela's attention because the fabric wasn't dusty like the rest of the room and looked almost brand new.

She lifted the cloth to have a peek underneath.

 

 

River escaped the building just as the alarms were raised. She hid behind a large pile of metal girders as Daleks and their puppets searched the aria.

She quickly but quietly sneaked her way around the girders until she reached a little alley opposite them. It was clear of Daleks and puppets so she made a brake for it.

The alley was short and dark and the only protection it offered was a shallow doorway. She couldn't stay there long.

River poked her head around the corner at the other end of the alley and hoped that the big, gravel-filled space yonder was also clear.

River couldn't see anyone, so ran out into the gravely expanse, darting from gravel pile to gravel pile.

She didn't notice the dead eyes watching her in the distance.

 

 

Epsilon struggled to get free of Narvin's grasp and succeeded. Narvin dodged a lunge from Epsilon and the fugitive ran smack into a pile of stones. Little and large pebbles fell onto his head as he slipped down slightly.

Narvin, once sure his attacker was unconscious, dusted himself off and went to see how Leela was getting on.

 

 

Leela stared at the box in front of her. Parts of it were made of wood and others were clicking, metal cogs. This confused Leela. It looked so primitive but was really advanced technology, and yet _they_ treated her like she was stupid simply because she didn't use long words. If the ancients of Gallifrey decided to make something so clever look deceptively simple, why did the Time Lords of the present treat a clever primitive like her as if she were nothing but a stupid savage? Surely they would understand there was more to her than skins and a sharp knife.

Leela heard footsteps approaching the outhouse door so she hid behind a broken workbench.

The door creaked open and through it stepped Coordinator Narvin.

"Leela?" he called. "Leela, are you alright in here?"

Leela visibly relaxed, re-sheathed her knife and stepped out from cover.

"Narvin! It is good to see that you are okay."

"I see you've found the Moment," he pointed at the box on the floor that Leela had uncovered.

"It is the Moment! I thought it was," Leela stated proudly.

"Now we've just got to find River and take this back to Gallifrey with us. So, we didn't need the Professor after all. I told Romana it was a waste of time and effort bringing her with us."

"You are forgetting..." Leela started but was interrupted by a noise coming from the outside. "Did you hear that?"

Then the door squeaked open.

 

 

A Dalek glided dutifully into Davros' office just as the alarm stopped blaring.

"What has happened?" Davros asked with faint annoyance.

"The prisoner has escaped," the Dalek replied.

"Which prisoner?" he already knew that he needn't have asked.

"Professor Song."

Of course. Who else?

If he could be bothered to open his lids, then Davros would've rolled his eyes. As it was, he made do with just an internal sigh. What a typical event to have taken place. Still, he expected better of his creations.

This woman they had just lost was a real threat, but back in their custody she'd be a real advantage. They needed to get her back. And Davros knew of one thing that he could do to find her.

"Then I will speak with the other. Bring him to me."

 

 

River was almost at the end of the vast expanse of concrete gravel mounds when one of the puppets started firing at her. She hurried out of the way.

Laser bolts went zapping over her head, hitting the concrete piles and sending bits flying in all directions. River did her best to avoid it all but she still got covered in sand and ended up with an alarming amount of concrete pebbles in her hair.

Once she got behind another pile of shrapnel, she pulled her gun back out of it's holster and risked a look at her attacker.

The Dalek puppet was running in River's direction. Very Fast.

 

 

Two Daleks glided into Davros' office with a prisoner between them.

"How long are you going to keep me on this planet? I'm not going to tell you anything, you know," the prisoner stated.

"Patience, Braxiatel. Patience." Davros smiled.


	7. Interrogation

Braxiatel looked like he had been through the wars. He was scuffed and scraped and covered in grime all over. Even his mustache was sandy-beige instead of it's usual black colour. And he felt so tired. He had expended a lot of energy trying to escape the Daleks, but had ended up being caught by them all the same. He hadn't had much of a chance for rest.

Brax was surprised the Daleks hadn't just killed him, they were certainly going to when they found him. And that was understandable, considering he had betrayed them in the past.

An order from someone had saved him on what he was sure was the last 'exterminate'. The order had come over the Daleks computer so Brax hadn't heard who it was, but now he realised it must have been Davros.

The mutant genius watched his prisoner with interest. If the man lied, as he expected he would, then Davros wanted to be able to tell immediately.

Brax felt uncomfortable under his intense stare but did his best not to show it.

"What do you know of Professor River Song?" Davros asked his prisoner, frowning.

"What do you want to know about her?" Braxiatel wondered.

"What do you know of her?!" he asked again.

"She's my sister-in-law, if that helps."

"It doesn't. We already know of your relation to the Doctor. And hers. Tell us how she thinks."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Davros inquired, fed up with his fool of a prisoner.

"Because I've never met her," Brax replied sternly.

"We will know the truth. Take him to the mind analysis machine," Davros ordered.

And Braxiatel was forced out of the room once more.

 

 

"Who's there?" Leela asked the figure standing by the door.

There was no reply, but the figure stepped away from the door hole so he was no longer silhouetted, and Leela could finally get a good look at him.

It was Epsilon. He had woken up already.

You could instantly tell he was a Time Lord, he was still wearing the clothes and the stupid hat. They were in the colours of the CIA uniform. It was supposed to be smart, not that you'd know that to look at him. He was covered in sand and his clothing was at all angles. And he was certainly old. He looked like he would be at least one hundred and twenty if he were human. He had a typically Prydonian nose and hollow cheeks. He looked so old that even his wrinkles appeared to have wrinkles. His whole body seemed infirm, but his grapple with Narvin proved it to be only skin deep.

"If you do not step away from the Moment, you will die," he said in his deep voice.

 

 

The Dalek puppet was only a few feet away from River when it recommenced firing at her with the gun in it's hand. River fired back.

She got the Dalek puppet right where it's heart should be with her first shot and it stumbled to the floor, apparently deactivated. River quickly hurried over to it to make sure it was honestly dead before continuing on her journey.

She pulled her communicator from her pocket to call Narvin as she ran.

"Hello, Narvin? Are you there?" she asked.

There was no reply.

 

 

"Why?" Narvin asked Epsilon.

"Why what?" inquired the misguided Time Lord.

"Why attack me? Why trap us here? Why are you doing this? I should think those are good places to start."

"You want the Moment back, Coordinator. I can't let that happen. I've got to destroy the Daleks."

"Do the Daleks know that you are here?" Leela wondered.

"No, savage. But they did find your friend."

"We know they have River, so..." Narvin began.

"Oh, was that her name? Anyway, I didn't mean her. I meant Lord Braxiatel."

 

 

Braxiatel was restrained in the mind analysis machine with tight straps that bit at his skin. The machine was then switched on and Davros asked Brax the questions he needed answering. But the Time Lord refused to answer so Davros ordered that the power be increased.

The pain coursing through Brax's body was almost intolerable, but he still didn't crack. He knew of River's reputation and trusted her to find him. She was the woman his brother married, and he would protect her with his life.

Davros ordered that the power be turned up to it's highest degree.

Braxiatel's screams could be heard deep into the Dalek base.

 

 

"What's that beeping, K9?" Romana asked her robot dog.

"Professor Song has sent us a message, mistress," K9 replied.

"What's the message?"

"Message begins. _'K9, inform your mistress that the Daleks and Davros are on Skaro and are building an army of Daleks to send to the front lines. And I have information about what they are doing to the missing people. I've escaped from the cell they imprisoned me in and I'm now looking for Leela and Narvin. I've tried contacting him but I haven't received a reply. No sign of Epsilon yet, or the Moment. Or Braxiatel. Unless the others have found them. If I can, I will try and tell Romana when I find Leela and Narvin as she is probably worried. Good dog.'_ End of message."

"Try and contact Narvin, K9," ordered a rather worried Romana.

 

 

Epsilon heard beeping. He was sure it had nothing to do with the Moment, and besides, it was coming from the Coordinator's direction.

"Have you got a communicator on you, Narvin?" Epsilon raised an eyebrow.

"No. That beeping is my alarm clock," Narvin lied.

Epsilon took a step forwards to search the Coordinator. Leela un-sheathed her knife and pointed it at the renegade Time Lord.

"Go anywhere near him and I'll disembowel you!" she threatened.

Epsilon grabbed Leela's knife-wrist with one hand and slapped her with his other. Leela gave a minute cry of surprise then promptly kicked him in the nuts.

 

 

River was running down a dirt track when she heard a man crying out in pain. She stopped. It sounded as if the noise came from the crumbling outhouse to her left. River decided to investigate.

She tried the door but it was locked. She pulled out her sonic screwdriver and held it to the lock. It opened.

River stepped inside.

 

 

"He has told me nothing! Still Professor Song stands in my way and I don't know where she is hiding!" Davros was cross.

"Dalek puppet nineteen is not responding to instructions," the nearest Dalek informed it's creator.

"Find it!" Davros ordered. "And take this creature back to it's cage."

The barely breathing Braxiatel was picked up and carried out of the room by two Dalek puppets. They weren't careful enough to avoid hitting his head on the wall.

 

 

"Hello," River smiled and held out her hand. "You must be Epsilon. Now, I've come a long way to talk to you."

Epsilon didn't shake River's hand so she let it drop back down to her side.

"And you've really let this place go, haven't you?" River continued. "Have the cleaners gone on strike?"

"You were captured by the Daleks. I've been following you since you left your TARDIS. How did you get away?" Epsilon asked cautiously.

"Ventilation shaft," River smiled, proud of herself.

"Are you sure?" the renegade regarded her sceptically.

"Of course I am."

"They didn't just let you go?"

"Why would they do that?" Leela asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Because that's what they do, the Daleks. It's how they work. It's the kind of devious thing that proves that I am right and you are wrong!"

"What are you saying?" Narvin asked disapprovingly.

"I'm saying there is only one way to get out of that city alive and well. _Only one!_ They must've let her go. They must have turned her into one of their puppets to find you and to trick you," Epsilon suggested with a mad gleam in his eyes. "Probably even to kill you!"

River raised a perfect eyebrow, and, with a smirk on her face, removed her gun from it's holster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're halfway through...


	8. Intervention

Braxiatel woke up in his cell with the worst headache he had ever had. He tried to sit up but the strength hadn't yet returned to his arms. He winced as a severe pain shot up his spine. He decided it would be best if he just laid still.

Braxiatel could just hear the heavy footfalls of the patrolling Dalek puppet as it passed the cell door. All he could see was a cobwebbed ceiling, and he was getting very bored.

If his sister-in-law really was on Skaro, then he wished she'd hurry up and rescue him.

 

 

Epsilon edged closer to River and she warned him to stay back by waving her gun at him. He stilled.

"Shoot him and let's be gone," Leela advised, not doubting her friend for a moment.

"Leela's right," Narvin agreed, discreetly scanning River and discovering her to be herself. "I rather believe he'd kill us if you don't kill him first."

"Don't kill _me!_ You would be making a very big mistake! I'm doing the right thing, I'm stopping the Daleks and that stupid Doctor from killing everybody else! The Time Lords will survive!" Epsilon argued angrily.

"Yes, they will. Believe me, I know. Just release my friends and allow us to leave with the Moment," River said.

"I can't!"

"Oh, you _can."_

"What about all the lives it will cost!? I _have_ to complete my task! It's my moral duty! Can't you see that!?"

"Yes, I can. I understand. But there's a better way. Give the Moment back. The Time Lords will be safe, I promise you."

"I don't believe you! You're just telling me what I want to hear!" Epsilon pulled a staser from his bag on the wooden bench and pointed it at River. "The Daleks have made you their puppet! It's the only answer!"

"I don't want to have to hurt you," River told him, holding her own gun level with Epsilon's head.

"Then I will shoot first," he told her coldly.

 

 

"Narvin is still not answering, mistress," K9 told Romana.

"Keep trying," Romana ordered as Valyes entered her office.

"Keep trying what, my lady?" he wondered.

"Never mind. It doesn't concern you. So, Valyes, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wish to discus your current... _interest_ in the Eminence."

"Well, Valyes?"

"The High Council believes you were correct in your opinion that the information is sufficient enough for some unofficial action to be taken. They are expected to give official consent during the next meeting of the High Council, as your presence is required."

"I'm no longer needed to babysit you all to make sure you're doing your jobs properly, then?"

"No, my lady. Why, is there another matter that requires your attention?"

"I _am_ the President of all Gallifrey and her dominions, if that answers your question."

"If it is something else I can help with, I would be only too..." Valyes began.

"With respect, Lord Chancellor, it's nothing to do with you. K9, cancel that last order. I'm leaving you in charge. If anything important happens, contact me via my communicator."

"Affirmative, mistress," K9's ears twirled.

"Valyes, don't you have something you ought to be doing in your own office?" Romana said as she prepared to leave for her TARDIS.

"Yes, madam President," Valyes muttered.

"Then you may go," Romana told him.

Valyes left the room shortly before Romana.

 

 

Narvin's communicator bleeped again.

"How many alarms do you need, Coordinator?" Epsilon wondered, attention drawn away from River for a moment.

"I like the music," Narvin lied unconvincingly.

Epsilon searched Narvin with one hand, keeping the staser pointed at River with the other. He discovered the communicator almost immediately.

"Incoming call from the President, no less," he said. "How nice."

Epsilon dropped the communicator on the floor and trod on it. Now they had one less way to contact the Citadel.

"There was no need for that!" River exclaimed after noticing Narvin's pained expression.

"You'd play the knight in shining armour for a gimmicky gadget?"

"No, for the people who use them."

"You are a smug bastard, aren't you?"

"That's more or less what my husband says. Although, he doesn't really swear," River said, giving Epsilon a look of contempt.

Epsilon had had enough. He stepped forwards and attempted to hit River across the face with the butt of his staser, but she caught his wrist before he could. Leela jumped on Epsilon from behind and held her knife to his throat. River let go of him, re-aiming her gun at his head and he put his hands up. He dropped his staser on the floor and River picked it up slowly, then aimed that at him also. Using the distraction, Narvin disabled the Moment then bagged it, using it's sheet as a makeshift sack.

"Run, Narvin!" Leela told him.

"But I can't leave you to..." Narvin complained but was cut off by River.

"You take the Moment to the TARDIS. That's the important thing. Leela and Epsilon will join you later," she said as she and her friend struggled with their unhappy prisoner.

"What about you?"

"Are you forgetting Braxiatel?"

 

 

The pain was fading so Brax slowly picked himself up off the floor and climbed onto one of the beds. The mattress was lumpy and hard and didn't offer much more comfort than the floor, but it was better than nothing. The blanket was thin and itchy so he didn't bother with it, he just laid down there and shut his eyes. But sleep wouldn't come to him.

The door swooshed open and a puppet stepped inside.

"Food and water," it announced, holding out a tray.

Brax stumbled to his feet again and took the tray off the waiting puppet. After it had left, he placed the tray on his little table and sat down in the uncomfortable chair. He began to eat the vile sludge on his plate, dreaming of freedom.

 

 

"Halt!" shouted a Dalek puppet as it chased Narvin, who was carrying the sack over his shoulder as he ran to the TARDIS.

Narvin stopped and stood still as the puppet walked towards him.

"Damn!" Narvin cursed.

 

 

Together, River and Leela had Epsilon restrained. Leela held his wrists together while River cuffed him with the handcuffs she'd found in the TARDIS cupboard.

Once River was done, she tucked the staser in Leela's waistband and the savage forced Epsilon outside and down the little track.

River followed her out of the building, but went off the other way.

 

 

Romana's TARDIS landed behind a huge pile of concrete and had disguised herself as a giant slab of the same.

Romana left her timeship alone, and poked her head around the mound of concrete rubble.

"Skaro. Just as bleak as I left it," she murmured.

 

 

River crouched behind a small pile of concrete shrapnel. She could see the entrance to the Dalek city almost forty feet away, but there were Daleks everywhere. It seemed like they had quadrupled their security since her earlier escape.

River held her breath as a single Dalek flew overhead. Thankfully it didn't see her. Her black clothing had long since been covered in a layer of concrete dust, so she was practically invisible from above.

Once certain all the Daleks had either left or were looking the other way, River slowly stood and creeped away to find cover closer to the Daleks' complex.

Her foot found a loose bit of concrete in the middle of the path and it slid a few inches, smashing into a larger piece. It made a noise.

River's breath caught in her throat as she froze, still as a statue.

The Daleks had heard.


	9. Reimprisonment

Romana heard the steady _thudthud_  sound of someone running. She hurried along the dirt track, peering through the dark, and saw Narvin running towards her followed by a Dalek puppet. She hid in the ditch by the path, knowing she was unable to do anything for her friend. She held her breath as she watched in dread, cold hand clamped tightly to her mouth.

"Halt," she heard the puppet shout as it ran towards it's prey.

"Damn," came Narvin's muttered curse.

"You will come with me," ordered the puppet.

Narvin dropped the sack he was carrying and the puppet led him away, gunstick pointed at his back.

Romana watched him go, becoming more and more worried.

 

 

"Ahh, Professor, it's nice to see you again so soon," Davros greeted.

The Daleks who'd caught River trying to brake back into their base had taken her straight to their creator. Davros had seemed a little too pleased to see her again which made River worry. It was almost as if she had been expected. She wondered what he was planning to do with her.

"Where's Braxiatel?" River asked conversationally.

"You will no doubt discover his whereabouts soon enough," he promised cryptically. "Now, what are we going to do with you?"

River stood in silence, evaluating her situation. Davros sat in silence, evaluating her.

 

 

Epsilon struggled to the best of his abilities as Leela forced him down the dirt track.

"Let me go! You don't know what you're doing! Do you want those Daleks to live? If you don't let me destroy Skaro, Gallifrey will burn!" Epsilon argued forcefully.

"No! You will kill many innocents!" Leela replied.

"So will... What's that?"

Leela looked over Epsilon's shoulder and heard footsteps approach from the distance.

"Dalek person!" Leela exclaimed. "Quick! Behind this pile of dirt."

Epsilon allowed himself to be dragged to safety. Once they'd hidden themselves, Leela poked her head up above the soil mound to watch the Dalek puppet march past.

"It's got Narvin!" she exclaimed in a devastated whisper.

 

 

Romana broke from cover and darted over to the sack Narvin had left behind. She opened it and smiled with relief. They had found and retrieved the Moment. It seemed their job was almost done.

Wary of the possibility of more Dalek puppets wandering about, Romana lifted the sack over her shoulder and ran back to her TARDIS with it as fast as she could.

 

 

"So, what are you going to do with me?" River asked Davros as if she had something better to do.

"You will be taken to the mind analysis machine. I must know your plans, and you _will_ tell me," Davros promised. "Dalek!"

The nearest Dalek glided over to it's creator obediently.

"Have Professor Song's interrogation recorded," Davros ordered. "I do not want her husband to miss her screams."

 

 

They reached the Dalek city.

Narvin was worn out. He'd had a long, old day, and it was beginning to catch up with him. He brought his hand down to his face to yawn.

"Keep your hands above your head!" ordered the puppet from behind him.

Narvin hurriedly moved his hand back to where it was before with a look of annoyance on his face.

The doors to the city came into view and the puppet ushered him through them. Two further Dalek puppets were waiting for him when he got inside and they grabbed hold of his arms painfully tightly.

Narvin winced as they started pulling him down the never-ending, grey corridors.

 

 

River was strapped to the mind analysis machine. The straps were too tight and bit into her skin, but that was the least of her problems.

Davros ordered that the machine be switched on, and the pain it caused was excruciating as she tried to hold back her memories. But try as she might, the images still appeared on the big screen.

All the Doctor's faces flashed by. Then there were images of Daleks, the Rulers of the Universe, a vague army of Robert Murphy, Cybermen, Sontarans, Golden Futures, the Sanukuma, the Clocksmith, Mechanoids, Autons, Sperovores, Prim, Vashta Nerada infested spacesuits, and a few other things that have tried to kill her over the years.

When the Weeping Angels appeared on the screen, she thought of her parents and a tear escaped her eye. Then their faces were shown and she had to look away.

 

 

Romana locked the Moment up safely in a temporal vault on her TARDIS. She couldn't risk it falling into the wrong hands now.

She left her timeship again and checked the door was shut properly before trekking off into the wilderness. Romana tried to enjoy her march along the dirt track as much as possible while worrying about her friends. She didn't enjoy it at all.

After seven micro spans of near-jogging, she saw Leela struggling towards her with a man who looked as if he were tied up.

That lifted Romana's spirits immensely.

 

 

The Dalek puppets threw Narvin into a cell. He picked himself up off the floor and dusted his crumpled uniform down. Grains of sand clouded around him, and fell to form little dunes at his feet.

"Why are you putting me in here? I insist upon seeing whatever's in charge!" he complained.

The puppets just shut and locked the door with a tut.

"Incompetent amateurs," he continued.

"Davros is a bit busy right now, I should think. And I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to see him," said a voice from behind Narvin.

Narvin turned around, recognising the voice.

"Oh, _no!"_ he shook his head.

"Hello, Narvin," Braxiatel smiled. "I hope you don't snore."

 

 

When River finally passed out from the immense pain caused by the mind analysis machine, the images on the screen stopped.

"We will find a way to make the Doctor see this. I want him scared for her safety," Davros said.

A Dalek took the interrogation recording away to be stored immediately.

Then some puppets unplugged River from the machine and one of them lifted her up into it's arms carelessly. The others formed the escort for the unconscious prisoner as she was carried away to a cell.

 

 

Leela struggled with Epsilon as she pushed him along the track. He was putting up a good fight, not giving up on the allusion of escape.

She glanced over his shoulder and saw a figure march towards her. Leela had to squint a little in the darkness before she could recognize the person to be Romana.

She couldn't suppress a smile at the sight of her old and dear friend, who's normally pristine appearance had already become disheveled and windswept.

Epsilon wasn't too happy to see his President. He cursed under his breath and fixed his eyes firmly on his shoes.

"Leela!" Romana called.

"Romana!" Leela exclaimed, pushing Epsilon to go faster. "Narvin has been..."

"I know," the President interrupted her bodyguard. "Where's River?"

"Rescuing Braxiatel," Leela informed her as they reached each other.

"Good, good. I'll help you get this one back to your TARDIS," Romana took one of Epsilon's arms and helped move him along.

Soon, and with little trouble from their prisoner, they reached Leela's TARDIS and shoved the criminal inside. They forced him across the control room and made him sit in the chair. Leela threatened him with her knife to make him sit still, as Romana locked the restraints into position. Once Epsilon was adequately secured, the President moved over to a small control panel and activated the time lock. He'd never escape that.

Leela removed Epsilon's staser from her waistband and placed it on the console. Then she followed Romana back out to find their friends.

 

 

Narvin and Braxiatel looked up from their beds when the cell doors whooshed open.

"Put that woman down!" Narvin ordered when the unconscious River was carried inside.

"I intend to," the puppet hissed.

"Trying to play the hero, Narvin?" Brax teased. "You do know that Leela can't see you now, don't you?"

"Shut up Braxiatel," Narvin glared. "She _is_ your sister-in-law, I'd expect you to care."

Narvin saw Braxiatel look startled for what was probably the first time in his life. He'd obviously had no idea what the woman looked like. They'd never met before, after all.

The Dalek puppets dropped River on the floor and left quickly. Both Time Lords flinched as they saw her body connect painfully with the concrete, then bounce a little from the force of the impact.

Brax wasted no time in picking her up off the cold, hard floor. He cradled her in his arms before placing her gently on one of the bunks. He pulled the thin, itchy blanket over her and brushed the hair out of her face.

"She's beautiful," Brax noticed.

"And she's quite something when she's awake, too," Narvin revealed. "Your brother is very lucky."

"He always was," Brax agreed.

Braxiatel's hand pressed against River's wrist to check her pulse while his other hand hovered just above her mouth.

"Her breathing and pulse seem normal for a Time Lady," Brax said before attempting a telepathic analysis of her mind. "She's been mentally subjected to a massive energy surge, but beyond that she appears to be fine. She should wake up soon."

"Oh, good. That's all we need," Narvin muttered, sarcasm dripping from his every syllable.

"I thought you said she was quite something, Coordinator," Brax reminded him, cocking a faintly amused eyebrow.

"She is. She's one of the most annoying women I've ever met. And considering Romana, Leela, and Darkel, that's quite a statement. The Doctor and River were made for each other. You always said he was the most trying little brother in the whole of creation."

"And I love him dearly. But don't tell anyone I said that. Especially the Doctor. The outcome would be intolerable."

The Coordinator nodded in both agreement and understanding, then noticed River's eyebrows moving to form a frown.

"She's coming 'round," Narvin went over to River's bedside, and Braxiatel held her hand.

River opened her eyes and winced in pain.


	10. Stealth

River stared at her surroundings, squinting against the light. Everything was a bit fuzzy, she couldn't really think properly and her head hurt. The whole room seemed like it was spinning so she grabbed the bed with her hands for support. It didn't help.

River could make out two male faces looking down at her with concern. She was sure she was supposed to know one of them, the other she couldn't place for the life of her.

The spinning gradually stopped but she still felt a little light headed. She tried to sit up and groaned as the attempted movement sent pain right up her back. She decided that moving was a bad idea.

She felt exhausted so shut her eyes to get some sleep, but her throat was dry so she ended up having a coughing fit. Her fingernails bit into her palm as pains shot through her again.

"Narvin, get the Dalek puppet outside to bring Professor Song some water," Braxiatel instructed.

Narvin did as he was told and returned to River's bedside a few moments later with a glass of water.

Narvin pressed the rim of the glass to her lips, and she gulped the water down.

River pushed the glass away from her mouth gently and smiled, suddenly feeling a bit better. She could see the ghastly room properly now. She could make out the limp, dusty cobwebs and the tired faces of her two cellmates. And her memory had started to slowly return, too. She smiled at Narvin as she recognised him, and he smiled weakly in return. She studied the other man's face and made a guess at his identity. Her smile grew.

"Thank you," River said, swinging her legs 'round to sit up now the pain was tolerable. "I see they got you too, Narvin."

"Not the Moment, though, as far as I know," Narvin told her.

"Good, good. But what interests me most now is, what are you doing here, Irving Braxiatel?" River smiled a brilliant smile at her brother-in-law.

"I was captured," Brax answered, not wanting to go into it further. "How's my brother?"

"Last time I saw him he was fine. But he has a tendency to become not fine very quickly."

"Nothing's changed then."

"He never does," she sighed, and Brax delighted in her fond smile.

"Far be it from me to disrupt this family gathering, but how are we going to get out of here?" Narvin asked.

"I'm thinking about it," River shrugged, acting as if she had all the time in the world.

 

 

Romana and Leela reached the Dalek city after many micro spans of walking. Now all they had to do was get in and then get out again with their friends. How hard could it be?

There were a couple of Dalek puppet guards standing by the only visible entrance. If the President and her bodyguard had moved off to one of the other, concealed entrances, they'd have been seen. So Leela concocted a plan.

"I will draw them off then you slip inside unnoticed and rescue our friends," Leela suggested.

"But what about you?" Romana whispered.

"I will see what happens."

"Leela, I can't possibly..."

"You are not possibly doing anything. This is my plan and I am offering to carry it out. If I am killed, then it will be my fault, not yours. I will join you inside if I can."

"And there's nothing I can say that will persuade you otherwise?"

"Nothing."

"Very well, then," Romana conceded. "But be careful, won't you."

"Of course I will, Romana," Leela, not needing to be told twice, moved slowly around to another place of concealment.

When she was far enough away from Romana for the President to not be caught, Leela darted from cover and the two Dalek puppets followed her as planned.

Romana quietly slipped into the base, unnoticed and hid behind a stack of crates that were marked 'supplies'. She craned her neck around the crates to see if there was anyone coming. Once satisfied that she was alone, she darted from cover and carried on deep into the base.

 

 

Leela ran as fast as she could, through the concrete wastelands that were Skaro. The Dalek puppets were a little bit behind her but no matter how hard they tried, they were not decent shots while they were running.

After the eleventh shot missed her, Leela came across the entrance of an underground bunker. She darted inside and hoped the puppets hadn't seen where she'd gone.

A very short time later, she heard two people run passed the door and she let out a relieved sigh.

Leela looked at her new surroundings for the first time. It was sparsely decorated, just grey walls stretching on to turn corners to become yet more grey walls.

With no sign of Leela's pursuers having worked out where she'd gone, the savage proceeded down the corridor with her hand hovering by her knife's handle.

It didn't take long for Leela to get lost.

 

 

There seemed to be nobody lurking in the part of the base in which Romana found herself. All the corridors were deserted and she hoped they'd stay that way. But then she saw a shadow move and she hoped against the worst.

But it was Leela who rounded the corner, and Romana let out her breath soundly.

"You scared the life out of me for a minute, there," Romana sighed, hand pressed to her chest as if the pressure of her palm could slow her speeding hearts.

"I am sorry, Romana," Leela went over to her friend. "It is good to see that you are safe."

"I'm glad that you're okay as well, Leela."

"Which way do we go?"

"Since you came from over there, I think back the way _I_  came, don't you?"

"I will go after you in case the enemy comes at us from behind."

"Thank you," Romana led Leela back along the endless corridors.

"How are we going to rescue our friends?" Leela asked with a worried frown.

"I don't know," the President replied.

"You must have a plan! That is what you do! You say lots of long words and tell me how I can help and then everything is okay."

"Not this time Leela. Perhaps we'll come up with something when we find them. But I don't honestly know how we're going to do even that."

"So we have nothing."

"We have each other. And on a good day that's all we need."

"But this is not a _'good day'_ ," Leela said sadly. "This day is not good at _all."_

They continued walking in silence after that.

 

 

Davros was looking at the hologramatic screens suspended in mid air in front of him. They showed him the progress of the Dalek manufacture and footage from CCTV. It was the recording from one of the upper corridors that caught his eye.

"This is Davros. This is Davros," said the evil genius into his tannoy. "The President of Gallifrey and her bodyguard are traversing corridor A Ninety-Seven. They must be intercepted and captured. I want them brought to me alive!"


	11. Escape

River, Braxiatel and Narvin all looked up at the speaker. They'd heard the order Davros had just given and were more than a little worried.

"They'll never find us before the Daleks get to them," Narvin sighed.

Brax rolled his eyes discreetly.

"We could help them," River murmured.

"How exactly do you propose we do that?" Narvin asked pessimistically.

"We could escape and find them," she said with a smile.

"How?"

"Why is it me who has to come up with a plan?! You could come up with a plan!"

"Isn't this the kind of thing you're used to?"

"No. Well yes, but there's usually something I can shoot," River said, pacing the cell. "Hang _on!"_

"What is it?" Braxiatel asked hopefully.

"This bed, it's on wheels."

"What about it? It hardly helps us, a bed on wheels," Narvin grumbled.

"Tell me, do people often punch you in the face?" River asked.

"No."

"They must be very good at self restraint on your planet," she gave a little, impressed nod.

"Would you mind getting on with telling us your, no doubt, wonderful plan," Brax interjected. "Because, if you pick up on every time Narvin says or does something annoying or stupid, we shall be here for a very long time."

Narvin glared at Braxiatel and River smirked before revealing what she had in mind for their daring escape.

"I'm still not feeling very well. The mind analysis whatsit effected me so badly, I'm still crippled on the bed. You, Brax, being a concerned relative, have decided to ask the Dalek puppet standing outside for help. It thinks I'm ill, it's not expecting trouble. So imagine it's surprise when it opens that door and gets run over by a bed," River explained her plan. "On wheels."

"So, it opens the door and we push the bed at it?" Narvin asked, looking at her as if she'd gone mad.

"Basically."

"If that doesn't work?" Braxiatel asked.

"Then it's Narvin's turn," River smiled at the Coordinator.

 

 

Romana and Leela had been walking for quite a few micro spans but they hadn't yet found their friends and were getting more and more worried by the minute. Suppose Brax, Narvin and River were dead. What would they do then? That terrible outcome seemed more likely with every passing second. But they could still hope against the odds.

Leela looked at her knife, sitting in it's sheath which was tied to her waist. She regretted now not bringing one of the guns with her. At least if the worst had happened to her friends, she would've stood a chance of avenging them with one of those. For once, her knife was no good to her.

Without warning, the doors at the other end of the corridor whooshed open, stealing Leela and Romana's attention. They could feel their hearts pounding in their chests as the shape of the enemy appeared in the doorway.

The Daleks had found them.

"Run, Leela!" Romana exclaimed as the giant, deadly pepper pot glided towards them.

Leela turned around and, to her horror, saw another Dalek coming at them from behind and blocking their retreat. The only clear corridor was a dimly lit one to their left and both women pelted down it.

The Daleks followed tirelessly.

 

 

The bed ran smack into the puppet and sent it skidding across the floor. It's head hit the wall and it just laid there, as still as a corpse.

River smiled brightly, pleased with herself, and Brax looked at her proudly. Narvin regarded them with bemusement for a moment, then tutted.

All three of them ran into the corridor outside the cell and hoped for the best.

 

 

Romana and Leela kept running.

They'd last seen their pursuers three minuets ago and couldn't go on much longer. They were out of breath and slowing, unable to keep such a fast pace anymore.

They stopped for a few seconds, leaning against a wall to catch their breaths.

Then hands grabbed at them from behind. The two women struggled against their captors as they were dragged into a nearby storeroom.

 

 

"The President and her bodyguard have avoided capture and the prisoners have escaped from their cell," a Dalek informed it's creator.

"Find them!" ordered a rather cross Davros.

 

 

River, Braxiatel and Narvin didn't stop running once they were free. The Daleks where chasing Romana and Leela, so most of the other corridors were unoccupied.

Suddenly, River pulled the two men into a storeroom on their left, and put the marker pen in the way of the doors so they couldn't close properly. She stood with her eye to the gap between the doors, so she could see what was going on outside.

"Why have you dragged us in here?" Narvin asked.

But River didn't answer. Because just as Narvin finished his question, Romana and Leela staggered into her view.

River opened the doors again and Braxiatel ran out of the room, grabbed Romana, and pulled her to safety. Narvin struggled with Leela, possibly gaining a few bruises in the process, judging by the way she was fighting back.

The second the four of them were in the storeroom, River closed the doors properly and put the marker pen back in her pocket.

"Leela!" Narvin exclaimed letting the savage go. "It's me! There's no need to elbow me like that!"

"Narvin? It is you?" Leela turned around. "It is so dark in here, I cannot see."

"Hang on, let me find the light switch," River said, running her hand along the smooth wall. "Oh, sod it! I hate Dalek technology!"

With no light switch in the room, River pulled out her sonic screwdriver and aimed it in the general direction of where she assumed the light fitting would be. She pressed the button and the light came on, shining brightly.

"Braxiatel!" Romana beamed. "Thank Rassilon you're safe."

Nobody noticed River's smile vanish at the ex-President's name.

"Thank you for your concern, my lady," Brax replied, blushing.

"So, what do we do now?" Leela asked.

"Well, it seems all we have to do is escape," Romana sighed. "Don't ask me how."

"How?" River smirked.

"Oh, tell me how the Doctor puts up with you," the President asked with an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Brilliantly."

"We need a plan," Leela said.

"Well done, savage," Narvin muttered sarcastically and Leela glared at him.

"Why don't we just walk out the door and hope for the best?" River suggested.

"It does seem the only option, I'm afraid," Romana agreed.

River smiled and listened at the door. She couldn't hear anything and thought the corridor was empty, but waited a moment in case she was wrong. Once absolutely certain, River led her friends out of the storeroom and through the Daleks' base.

 

 

A Dalek glided over to Davros, disturbing him from tracking the incoming Dalek fleet.

"What is it?" he asked, hoping it was something important, he had never liked being interrupted.

"The humanoids have been located," the Dalek replied.

"Where?" Davros demanded to know, all annoyance forgotten.

"They have escaped to the highest level of the cryochamber."

Then Davros heard some static coming from the speaker of his communicator. He flicked the switch on his chair's dashboard to allow the other person to speak to him.

"This is the Dalek space fleet calling Skaro," came the voice of a Dalek puppet over Davros' radio.

"This is Davros. I am receiving you," Davros replied.

"We are in orbit around Skaro and are about to descend."

"Excellent!" Davros severed connection with the fleet and smiled as his luck had changed. "The prisoners escape to the cryochamber is most opportune."

He flicked the switch on his dash which controlled his tannoy.

"This is Davros. This is Davros. Awaken the Dalek army," he ordered.


	12. Gallifrey

The five humanoids tried to walk as quietly as they could along the rusty gantry. They were worried about alerting the Daleks to their whereabouts. And the occasional loud clang of shoes on metal made the possibility of them being spotted increasingly likely.

They'd gotten half way across the gantry when River and Leela both noticed movement beneath them. They shared a worried glance before the savage went to alert the President.

"Romana," Leela started, whispering urgently.

"What's is it, Leela?" Romana looked at her friend with a confused expression.

"There is movement bellow," the savage answered gravely.

"The Daleks are waking up," River clarified calmly as she looked over the railings, blaster already in her hand.

"Should we not be running?" Leela asked.

"Yes," Romana confirmed decisively, before leading her friends across the metal walkway at a sprint.

The main doors out of the cryochamber were locked so River soniced them and they swooshed open. They all ran through into the corridor beyond, and River locked the doors behind them.

Luckily, there appeared to be no Daleks waiting in the corridor, so they ran down it as fast as they could.

 

 

"Alert! Alert!" exclaimed the Dalek next to Davros.

"What's wrong now?" Davros sighed exasperatedly.

"The humanoids have left the cryochamber and are nearing the main entrance hatch!"

"Show me!"

The Dalek operated some controls and the CCTV footage of the Madam President and her friends appeared in mid air.

"Dalek patrol Three is nearest to that corridor," Davros informed the Dalek. "Send them an order to recapture the prisoners. Tell them they can exterminate the savage and the Coordinator as they are of no value. But the Doctor's wife, his brother and the President must be taken alive!"

"I obey!" the Dalek moved over to the control bank.

 

 

Leela looked behind her to see Daleks gliding towards them.

"Run faster!" she warned.

They sped up and rounded two corners in quick succession. The Daleks were sluggish and quite a way behind their pray so it was easy to get a respectable lead on them.

It wasn't long before the exit was in sight. River soniced the locking mechanism before they reached it and the door slid open.

River, Romana, Leela, Braxiatel and Narvin stormed through the doorway and pelted down the sandy path.

The Daleks went into hover mode when they reached the outside, and thus were faster.

River fired her laser gun at them as she ran, and must've taken down at least a dozen.

But the remaining Daleks were still firing back, and the ground around the humanoids was exploding into a mass of concrete and dirt with every miss.

Leela wiped her face with her hand to get the dust out of her eyes and Narvin only just dodged a flying stone. River quickly pulled Leela out of the way of another Dalek laser bolt by the strap of her skins.

Narvin tripped over a piece of concrete and fell flat on his face. Leela rushed to help him and River gave covering fire as Braxiatel half-dragged a reluctant Romana in the direction of his TARDIS. Her safety was of paramount importance.

Once Narvin was on his feet again, he, River, and Leela ran off in search of cover. There were derelict buildings all around them and they headed for the nearest one. It didn't have a door for them to shut but, to their surprise, it had a grating in the floor which covered a hole leading down into the sewers. The hole was too small for a Dalek, but perfect for a humanoid. The three of them quickly lifted the grating away and climbed down.

River insisted on going last and managed to pull the grating back into it's place above her head, just as the first Daleks entered the building.

 

 

"We can't leave them!" Romana exclaimed as Braxiatel bundled her into his TARDIS.

She ran to the console and was about to flick the door control switch, but Brax swatted her hands away and locked the switch on 'shut' setting.

"We wouldn't be helping them by staying and we need you safe, my lady. You are the President, you know," Brax explained.

"That doesn't mean we should abandon them!"

"I'm afraid we have no choice, Romana. I very much doubt they need us, anyway."

Romana nodded in agreement. Because Brax was right, they were Leela, River, and Narvin, they didn't need her and Brax. They'd be okay. They were always okay.

Braxiatel started to pilot them away from Skaro. He couldn't wait to get away from that dreadful planet. Romana was pulled from her worried thoughts by the sound of Brax's TARDIS dematerializing.

"But we still can't leave!" she stressed. "My TARDIS has the Moment inside!"

 

 

It was cold and dark and squidgy in the Dalek sewers.

River waved her sonic screwdriver around. She was using it as a torch again, and the light from it made Leela notice something on the walls. She put her hand out to touch it and some of the slime came off on her fingers. She lifted her hand up to her nose and sniffed. It smelt awful. Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"What is the gooey stuff on the walls?" Leela asked.

"Oh, just decaying Daleks," River answered. "This place is a graveyard for the living."

Leela, horrified, stopped walking and quickly wiped her fingers on her skins, then hurried along to catch the others up.

"Why didn't the Dalek puppets follow us down?" Narvin asked.

"They probably did. But we have a bit of a head start on them, I fancy," River answered. "Or the Daleks are planning something else. Either way, I think we should hurry, don't you?"

After a few more minutes of running for their lives, River stopped them and pointed to a hole in the tunnel above their heads.

"That's what we need," River said with a mad grin, made scarier by the light from her screwdriver. "Narvin, give me a leg up."

"What?"

"Well, unless you want to stay down here for the rest of your life, that's the way we're getting out. I don't know if there's anything waiting for us up there, so I'm going first. Now, give me a leg up, _please."_

Narvin did as he was told, and River squeezed through the hole. The coast was clear, so she helped Narvin get Leela out of the sewer, then both girls helped him.

The three of them struggled out of the cave they'd ended up in, and found it had brought them near to where their TARDIS had landed. They exchanged happy, relieved smiles and hurried over to their timeship.

They got inside and River dematerialized the capsule, sending them back to Gallifrey.

 

 

"Two of the four TARDIS capsules have left Skaro," a Dalek informed it's creator.

"Keep track of the other two. They will come back for them," Davros ordered as he quietly schemed. "And when they do, the newly awakened, ten-thousand strong Dalek army will be waiting for them."

 

 

Braxiatel materialized his TARDIS on Skaro once more. Romana's own capsule appeared in Brax's control room and she went up to pat the ship's exterior affectionately.

"Will I ever see you again?" Romana asked Braxiatel hopefully.

"I don't know," he answered regretfully.

Romana nodded sadly.

"Say goodbye to the others for me. And thank River. Tell her it was nice to meet her," he continued.

"I will," Romana promised. "Goodbye, Irving Braxiatel."

He held out his hand and she shook it, before returning to her capsule. Brax let his hand drop back to his side as her ship dematerialized from his own.

"Goodbye, Romana," he replied to thin air.

 

 

Narvin sat himself down unceremoniously in the softest chair the second he got into the control room. Leela took the chair next to him and both of them made the most of the first proper chance to breathe either of them had had that day. They both felt quite heavy with exhaustion and couldn't wait to get to sleep. Narvin nearly dosed off where he was, but Leela slapped him awake.

River seemed the most awake of any of them as she twisted dials and flicked switches with vigour. She had got her own gun back from the cupboard and hoped Narvin and Leela hadn't noticed her keep both, or the spare TARDIS components for that matter.

River materialized them back in TARDIS Bay Gamma, and turned on the scanner screen to see if anyone was waiting outside to greet them.

She saw ten Chancellery Guards run up to her capsule. One of them knocked on the door and River pulled the lever to open it.

The Chancellery Guards stormed in and spotted Epsilon on the other side of the control room. Once they reached it, they operated the switches on the time lock device and removed the renegade from the chair in which he was imprisoned. The criminal Time Lord realised his predicament and struggled against the strong, young men holding him down as his restraints were removed. Of course, his efforts were futile and he was forced out of the TARDIS and taken to the cells, complaining all the way.

Then River, Leela and Narvin left the capsule themselves. They found Romana waiting for them by one of the exits from the TARDIS bay. When she saw them, she hurried over, relief evident on her face.

"You're all alright, that's wonderful news," she enthused as she reached them.

"Thank you for your concern, Romana," Leela smiled as she greeted her friend.

"Right, then. I believe congratulations are in order. Dinner will be served in my rooms in three spans and you are all invited. River, the Chancellery Guard behind you will take you to your accommodation, where a hot bath and a change of clothes await you. I shall take you to claim your reward tomorrow."

"Thank you, Romana," River beamed. "However, I do have a question."

"Go on."

"What happened to Epsilon's TARDIS? Did you bring her back with you?"

"No! We left it behind!" Romana exclaimed, frowning annoyedly. "I shall send someone to collect it."

"May I volunteer?" River asked. "I can go and fetch it tomorrow morning."

"River, you don't have to do that. I've got lots of people I can send."

"I know, but I'm going to be there anyway, so I may as well bring the TARDIS back with me."

"Why are you going back to Skaro tomorrow?" Leela asked.

"Because I have a promise to keep," she answered cryptically.

"Very well," Romana agreed before turning to the guard behind River. "See that Professor Song is given the correct cipher index key for Epsilon's TARDIS."

"Yes, Madam President," he saluted and stalked off to get the key.

"Narvin, I need a word with you in my office as soon as possible," Romana told her friend. "But first I'd like you to supervise the return of the Moment from my TARDIS to the Time Vaults."

"Immediately, Madam President," Narvin headed for where he knew the Presidential Capsule would be parked.

The Chancellery Guard returned with the cipher index key which he passed to River. She thanked him and put the key in her pocket.

"Well, that appears to be everything," Romana stated. "I'll see you both at dinner."

Then Romana left for her office. At her friends departure, Leela hurried across the room to leave by a different door. River, feeling somewhat abandoned, turned to the guard.

"You'd probably better show me to my room, now," she suggested.

"Certainly, ma'am," he said as he led her through the nearest door.

 

 

The suns were setting on Gallifrey. They sent their last, blazing hot rays across the peaceful, orange sky, and Leela admired it's beauty.

Her hand rested on Andred's gravestone.

She missed him often, but just after adventures more than any other time. When she got home, she had no-one to talk to, nobody to impress. No-one to tell her to try to not kill anyone next time.

Yes, it was times like this she felt his loss most keenly, but even that was dulling now. And something, or _someone,_ was taking it's place.

And she wasn't sure what to think about that.

So Leela sat with her late husband without a word, and watched the suns go down.


	13. Defeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All quotes belong to Big Finish Productions.

River Song woke up in her grand rooms in the Citadel of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got out of bed. She wanted a lie in, she was still tired and her joints were aching, but she had a job to do.

River crossed over to the chair, picked her gun belt up off the seat and looked for her perfume bottle/wardrobe in it's pockets. She found it wrapped up in the bandage she'd carried with her ever since Bowtie twisted is ankle tripping over one of his rubber ducks.

River sprayed herself with the bottle and she was enveloped in a golden light. When the light faded, she was no longer in her silk, Gallifreyan pyjamas, but her old combat fatigues, and her hair was tied up in a ponytail instead of loose around her shoulders.

River strapped her vortex manipulator to her wrist, slipped her anti-Dalek gun into her holster and transfered the things in her gun belt pouches to the pockets of her trousers.

Once she was sure she was ready, River operated her vortex manipulator and went off into the Universe.

 

 

Romana had told him what to do. Coordinator in Extremis Narvinectralonum walked down the corridors of an Earth Alliance space station that was hanging in orbit above a war torn planet - Heron's World.

The eighth regeneration of the Doctor was waiting for him in the room at the other end of the corridor. He had heard a lot about the man - from his CIA files and brief mentions from Leela, Romana and River - and understood him to be a grate man. Narvin felt slightly nervous as he operated the door controls to let himself into the Doctor's room.

 

 

River stood half way up a mountain on Skaro and watched the Dalek city being destroyed.

She'd gone into the Dalek war zones and found the various leaders of the Daleks' oppositions. She told them where their missing people where vanishing to and what the Daleks were doing to them. The alien leaders where appalled by what they'd heard and each decided they had to destroy the Dalek base.

With an unprecedented level of interplanetary cooperation, the mighty battle fleets descended on Skaro to wipe out the Dalek city shortly after River and her friends' earlier escape.

It was a beautiful sight. The morning sky was almost black with battleships descending on Skaro, a terrifying army the Daleks hadn't bargained for. Enormous, mushroom explosions erupted high into the sky and were only narrowly avoided by many of the battleships.

Laser bolts flew this way and that, some taking out part of the large Dalek army, others blowing up their enemies fleets. River could see the shards of metal from the ships fall to the earth, with all that was left of the people who had flown them.

River felt sad at every loss. She saw herself as responsible as she had told them about the base. But she knew it would be better this way.

She had reason to believe they would all have died in the wars. _All_ of them. Wars with Daleks tended to go like that. Even when the Daleks lost, it was like Armageddon gone mad. At least this way, those people did not die in vain. She didn't know how long the Daleks would last without their reinforcements.

River knew Davros had survived - she'd seen his escape shuttle leave the surface of the planet - but that didn't matter.

Because the Daleks were losing.

River could hear the soldiers cries of triumph as the Dalek city collapsed, falling into it's own pit in the ground. She could feel the pure ecstasy of the soldiers from her place on the mountain. The atmosphere was electric.

The Dalek forces on Skaro had been completely overwhelmed and defeated and River allowed herself a quick smile.

The wars were almost won.

River climbed down the mountain. Most of the way down was fairly safe, but parts of it were treacherous. She slipped from about ten feet from the bottom, ending up in a bruised but laughing heap on the ground.

She got herself up and brushed herself down, then headed off through the barren landscape. There was only one thing left on her list - recovering Epsilon's TARDIS. Simple.

Then she could go and collect her reward.

 

 

The Doctor was everything Narvin had expected him to be. He was brilliant, mad, intelligent, stupid, right, wrong, meddlesome, funny, charming, and _bloody difficult_. Narvin admired him and was annoyed by him in equal measure. The Coordinator could see how the irksome time traveller had entered into legend.

But now, Narvin knew he was going to have to give the man news that was going to brake his hearts. And he wasn't sure how to start.

 

 

"So, what happens?" River asked as Romana led her down the corridors of the Citadel.

"You will breathe in the regeneration energy and lose consciousness," Romana explained. "Then we'll take you to your rooms to recover. There's really not much to it. As you aren't regenerating now, the energy will take time to integrate itself. There aren't any side effects, other than that any injuries or scars you may have will be completely healed. You'll be fine."

River nodded in understanding. She'd been feeling fear as she drew nearer to the room, but would never have admitted to it. Knowing what was going to happen and hearing Romana's reassurances made her feel better.

Romana led River to a round, white, padded room. The door opened by itself and Romana pointed inside.

"You go in there," she continued, smiling calmly.

River did as she was told, standing in the middle of the room. The door closed behind her and she felt a nervous twinge in her stomach. She waited patiently for a few seconds as Romana watched through a window in the curved wall. River could just about hear the technicians outside, working frantically to get the seldom used technology to work.

Then, the golden regeneration energy was emitted from the ceiling, just like Romana said. The cloud of energy was beautiful but surprisingly small considering what it was supposed to do. It drifted down towards River's head, forcing it's way inside her.

She breathed it in.

Her whole body tingled as a weightless sensation past over her, despite her feet never leaving the ground. It was one of the best sensations she had ever experienced. The pain she felt from the injuries of the past few days faded, and a darkness flooded her brain as it shut down.

River collapsed with a thump on the floor, completely unconscious.

A couple of medics rushed into the padded room with a hover stretcher. They carefully placed River on it and transported her back to her rooms.

Romana watched them go with a sure smile and her fingers crossed.

 

 

Narvin watched from inside his TARDIS as the Doctor said goodbye to his beloved companion, Molly O'Sullivan. They both looked so sad it touched even Narvin's ice cold hearts.

The Doctor would never be able to see Molly again. She would be lost to early twentieth century Earth, and that would be it.

They stopped the Master's little plan, though. That was the main thing. And the Eminence had been dissipated across the Universe so it wouldn't be heard from for a while, which was good. All in all, it had turned out for the best.

So Narvin watched the Doctor lose Molly O'Sullivan, maintaining his hard exterior.

"I shall miss you, Dark Eyes," Narvin heard the Doctor say.

"And so you should, The Doctor," Molly murmured in reply. "So you bloomin' well should."

A sad expression invaded Narvin's face, but he quickly got it under control.

Molly watched on as the Doctor stepped inside his TARDIS, shut the doors and dematerialized. She stared at the place where the ship had once been, where now there was only air, and sand settling back on the ground.

Narvin stepped back out of his ship and walked slowly over to Molly.

"Come on, Miss O'Sullivan. It's time to go home," he said as gently as his CIA training would allow.

Molly looked back out to sea, taking in the artificial lights that were dancing on the waves now the sun had gone down. She sighed.

"Well, lets be getting on then. Your Tardy Box is back that way, isn't it now?" Molly said as she pointed the way Narvin had just come.

"Indeed," Narvin replied, but she had already started walking off without him.

 

 

River woke up in her rooms. She must've been unconscious for a long time because she could see Pazithi Gallifreya in the night sky through the round window in the middle of her ceiling.

It was a strange feeling, having regeneration energy again. It'd been so long she had almost forgotten what it was like. She lifted up her arm and stared at her skin. It didn't look any different, although it certainly felt it. Her whole body was crackling with regeneration energy, fresh and integrating itself with her cell structure. It was just going to take a little bit more time.

She could feel herself drifting off to sleep again so she lowered her arm and closed her eyes.

 

 

The Twelfth Doctor was confused to find no tea waiting for him. He checked everywhere. On the top of his desk, on the floor, under his chair, and in his desk's draws. But he couldn't find any tea. This surprised him because River usually made them each a cup at about this time. This made the Doctor worry about her, so he decided to investigate.

He looked for River everywhere. She wasn't in the bedroom, or the TARDIS library, or in any of the bathrooms she logically may have been. He didn't even find her in her gun cupboard.

He did so hate it when she went missing.

He returned to the control room to see if she was there, wondering where _he'd_  got to, but that room was completely empty of Rivers, too.

That's when he saw the blue sticky note on the console, and went over to pick it up and read it.

 

_'Gone out. Friends need a favour. Won't be long. Love, R xxx'_

 

"Fine," the Doctor muttered. "I'll make my own tea."

 

 

River got up that morning feeling refreshed and invigorated. Her regeneration energy had finally integrated itself and she couldn't shake the smile from her face. She was very much looking forward to telling the Doctor about it. He would be thrilled to bits.

Once she was dressed and fed, River was shown to the Panopticon by a Chancellery Guard. There, Romana, Leela, and a freshly returned Narvin were waiting to say goodbye to her.

"Morning, Professor!" the President greeted. "You look well."

"Thank you, Romana," River beamed.

"Thank you for all your help," Romana said as she shook River's hand.

"Any time," River smiled.

"Goodbye, River," Leela interjected sadly.

"Goodbye," River returned, before shaking Narvin by the hand and exchanging farewells with him.

"Good luck on _the Moros,_ " River said morosely as she pressed a button on her vortex manipulator and disappeared into time.

"What did she mean?" Leela wondered.

"Isn't _the Moros_ a Monan Host ship?" Narvin worded it like a question but really he new the answer.

"Yes," replied Romana. "I guess we're going to find out what she meant very soon."


	14. Symbolism

The Eleventh Doctor materialized his TARDIS in his wife's rooms at Luna University. He hadn't seen her for quite a while and, since Clara was back at home, it seemed the perfect opportunity to pop in on her.

He stepped out of his timeship and looked around the room he'd landed in. It was the living room she mostly used as a library. Almost all the wall space was lined with bookshelves full of old, dusty books. She was never one for cleaning.

Where she didn't have bookshelves, she kept artifacts she'd discovered on her digs. The room was littered with pots, complete or otherwise, and spears and suchlike. They were all just as dusty as the books and he couldn't help wondering if River would mind him letting the cleaner in without her permission, just this once.

The Doctor looked at the time on his watch. River should have finished her lessons for the day, so where was she? He searched the other rooms for her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

When he looked in the bedroom, he found a note on his bedside table. He unfolded it and felt his hearts drop like lead.

 

_'Dear Doctor,_

_Gone to the Library. I shouldn't be too long. I'll let you know when I'm on my way home. Have dinner ready._

_See you soon._

_Love, River xxx'_

 

He'd lost her.

He sat on the bed, too shocked for tears. It didn't feel like it was really happening. Maybe if he pinched himself, he'd wake up and discover he was only dreaming. But he daren't try it in case it shattered one of the last illusions he had left to cling to.

He stayed there, sat on the bed in silence for a while. He wasn't quite sure how long. The seconds stretched to minutes, and the minutes stretched to hours as the feeling of emptiness crept up on him.

And finally, the Doctor cried.

 

 

River Song appeared in the TARDIS with a flash of blue light. She looked all around the control room but couldn't find any sign of her husband. But she did notice the doors were ajar, so she went to look for him outside.

River found herself in her rooms at Luna. She smiled. It seemed like forever since she was last there and she suddenly realised she missed the place. And after such a long and tiring adventure, she could do with a peaceful time just teaching.

That's when she noticed the grey mop of hair that was visible above the back of the chair. And if she thought she'd missed her rooms, then it was nothing compared to how she'd missed _him._ She wanted to drag him into bed there and then and never let him leave, but she didn't want to appear clingy.

"Hello, sweetie," River smiled.

"Hi, honey. And what sort of time do you call this?" said the Doctor as he climbed out of his chair. "You owe me a cup of tea!"

"Do I? And why, am I late?" she checked her watch.

"You've been gone for quite a while. Where did you go?"

"Oh, here and there," River replied evasively. "What are you doing in my rooms?"

"I was waiting for you. When I didn't get any tea, I went looking for you and realised that you'd gone. So I thought I'd wait for you here, just in case you dropped by. Which reminds me, I got your note."

"Oh? What note?"

"The note about you going to the Library. I got it when I was Bowtie."

 _"Oh,"_ River's face fell. "I am so sorry. I didn't think Bowtie would go this far ahead. I never thought you'd find it..."

"Then why have you been leaving me notes, if I'm not supposed to find them?"

"You found the others, too?!" River's face was a mixture of horror and embarrassment.

The Doctor's only reply was a short nod.

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

"It's okay, it's nothing to apologise for. I'm just confused. Why would you write me notes if I wasn't there to read them, River?"

River looked at her feet. She didn't want to admit it, but she was about to. This was something the Doctor was never supposed to know and her embarrassment made it difficult to say.

The Doctor noticed her blush and allowed a quick smile to tug at his lips.

"I'm not going to laugh," he assured her tenderly, taking a few steps nearer and reaching out to hold her hands in his.

"I wrote the notes _because_ you weren't there to read them," she started, eyes still fixed on her feet. "I always left you notes, didn't I? When I went out or to remind you to do something. So when I thought it was over, I kept it up. It was like I could pretend you'd just popped out for a minute. It was like you'd be back."

She heard nothing, so tore her eyes from her boots to see him. He looked touched, face shining with adoration as he stepped ever nearer to her. River smiled as he released her hands to pull her into a loving hug.

"Do you know something?" he asked as he buried his nose in her curls.

"I know lots of things, darling," River answered into his shoulder.

"Well, then. I'll tell you this thing, shall I?" he paused. "I love you."

"I already knew that thing."

"Oh, shut up!"

She sank into his arms, chuckling fondly. It felt so good to be held by him again, after her latest adventure.

He pulled back and stared at her face. She was confused by his expression. It wasn't one she saw on the Doctor's face very often. And it's concoction of conflicting emotions made it impossible to describe.

"You were on Gallifrey, weren't you?" he asked and River nodded, surprised. "Who regenerated?"

"What?"

"I can smell the regeneration energy on you, River. You're bristling with it. What happened?"

"Nobody regenerated," River fixed him with one of her most brilliant smiles. "It's _my_ regeneration energy."

"But you don't have any," stated the confused Time Lord.

"Neither did you once," she winked.

"They gave you a new set, too," the Doctor's joy was uncontainable.

 _"Yes,"_ River beamed and the Doctor pulled her into his arms again.

He took in a grate lungful of her sent, unable to breathe in enough of her. It was wonderful, unbelievable, and he was so happy he couldn't get his stupid grin off his face. He no longer had to fear losing her. He no longer had to worry every time she darted into a hail of bullets. It wouldn't stop him, of course. He was born one of natures grate worriers. But he didn't _have_ to. He wouldn't have to think about living without her for a long time, if at all. He allowed happy tears to roll from his eyes and down his cheeks where they mingled with her beautiful curls.

River sank into the Doctor sleepily. It didn't matter what regeneration he was in, or whether he liked them or not, he was still good at hugs. He still made her feel safe and sleepy and warm with his arms wrapped around her.

"I could do with a holiday," River stated, lips brushing his neck.

"Darillium? Walks by the towers? Massages?" he punctuated each suggestion with a gentle kiss on the side of her face.

"Read my mind! I'm driving," River said as she pulled the Doctor back to the TARDIS by his lapel.

Before the Doctor passed through the doors, he pulled out the note he had discovered on the bedside table from his pocket. He scrunched it up in his hand and threw it into River's bin.

"Symbolism," he muttered to himself as he stepped inside his box.

Then the TARDIS dematerialized from River's rooms at Luna, disturbing nothing but the curtains and a thin layer of dust.

 

 

Many, _many_ years earlier...

"This is live footage beamed directly from Skaro. The woman you see being tortured is very important to you, I believe," Davros winced in pain.

The confused Fourth Doctor turned back to the horrific images on the screen to see if he could identify the woman.

"Never seen her before in my lives," the Doctor frowned.

"Then she _will_ be important. In your future," Davros turned the screen off.

"Who is she?" the Doctor asked crossly. "What's her name."

"Doctor?" Romana chipped in.

"Not now, Romana! Who is that woman, Davros!?"

"I've seen her before," Romana continued, despite the Doctor's tone.

"You have? Where?" he asked, suddenly listening.

"On several of our adventures. She _is_ someone important from your future. She saves your life a lot. We've got to get her out of there!"

"Let her go, Davros!" the Doctor ordered scarily.

"Once I am in my chair. I cannot survive much longer without my primary life support," Davros said, breathing becoming shallower.

"How do I know you'll do as I ask if I help you?" the Doctor asked sceptically.

"Doctor, we have to do _something,"_ Romana told him.

"But doesn't it strike you as a little too convenient? An evil creature intent on destroying creation and asking for my help, happens to be holding a woman, to whom I owe my life, imprisoned. Or is it just a coincidence?"

"It's always been a coincidence when she's shown up before. She's just the kind of woman who'll always be in the heart of trouble. I can believe she's been captured by the Daleks. It would be so typically her."

"I suppose, in that case we don't have much choice," the Doctor deflated.

Then he and Romana tugged at Davros' chair, trying to get it upright. It was a struggle and they nearly dropped it on the Doctor's foot, but eventually they managed to get it the right way up. Davros wasn't quite as heavy. Between them, they lifted him up and put him back in the chair, where he belonged, with ease.

"Thank you, Doctor, Lady Romana," Davros chuckled. "You have been most helpful."

Davros moved his chair over to the controls and flicked some switches.

"Aren't you going to release her?" Romana asked.

"I am not holding her prisoner," Davros said, smiling and seeming healthier.

"But the images..."

"Were recorded. The Professor escaped a few days ago. You have been very foolish, Doctor."

There was a beeping noise coming from Davros' control panel. The Doctor recognised the sound and screwed his eyes up in annoyance.

"That was the Dalek fleet's answer to a distress signal," he whispered to Romana. "Judging by the scanner screen, we have nine minutes before they arrive."

"Indeed, Doctor," Davros said, having heard him. "And you both will be exterminated! Past Dalek defeats will be unwritten, and my children will become the ultimate life form in the Universe!"

"I think we should get out of here," Romana suggested.

"I think you're right," the Doctor agreed.

Then they both ran. The Doctor resealed his helmet as he went, avoiding tripping up on the stray cables that had fallen on the floor.

It became a lot more difficult to move once they reached the vacuum of space. They bounced slowly along towards the TARDIS, which they could see was only a few yards away across the surface of the airless moon.

But they could also see the Dalek fleet above them, coming to Davros' rescue.

The Doctor searched for the TARDIS key in the pocket of his spacesuit with one hand, while reaching for the door handle with the other. To his horror, his jelly babies fell out of his pocket and floated away. His hearts were heavy as he watched them go.

Then he finally found the key, which did little to cheer him up.

The Doctor unlocked the doors and he and Romana made it inside just as the first Dalek ship landed. He ran straight to the control console and got the TARDIS to dematerialize.

"Well, that didn't go too brilliantly," Romana said, climbing out of her spacesuit.

"No, it did not," the Doctor replied, trying to undo his transparent spacesuit without catching his scarf in the zip. "But at least the Professor's alright. I'm looking forward to meeting her. And I've got to thank her for saving my lives."

"Oh, you'll do a lot more than that, Doctor," Romana muttered to herself under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I was just saying how you'll _really_ like her. She is most definitely your type," Romana smirked suggestively.

"Oh, shut up, Romana!" the Doctor said, big eyes glaring.

All he did was make her laugh.

"So, what happens to Davros now?" she chuckled.

"Oh, he'll be taken to the Dalek mothership and I'll have to stop his evil plans again someday. This is getting tedious," the Doctor grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


End file.
